Despite all the challenges, the last tourist year achieved extraordinary results. Considering the circumstances, and compared to the results in 2020, slightly less than 70 percent of arrivals and 80 percent of overnight stays were recorded in 2021 compared to 2019.
Slobodna Dalmacija spoke with Tonči Glavina, State Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, who believes that the success stems from the excellent preparation for the tourist season.
“And I intentionally say season, not tourist year, because, unfortunately, due to the flourishing pandemic and travel restrictions, we didn’t have a pre-season. But, nevertheless, a great effort was made by practically the entire Government of the Republic of Croatia, headed by the Prime Minister. We were the first EU member to open borders for tourists from third countries, the first country to introduce the EU digital COVID certificate, we managed the health crisis by being in the “safe” zone for most of the tourist season, we vaccinated tourism workers, provided a large number of tourist testing points, co-financed antigen tests for tourists, we were among the first and one of the few who provide tourists with vaccinations,” says the Secretary of State, recalling that the Minister of Tourism established the Council for Recovery and Development of Tourism, the implementation of tourism in 2021 and improving the tourism offer, which brought together all relevant stakeholders in the tourism sector.
The Ministry designed and implemented the “Safe stay in Croatia” project, which resulted in one million visitors to a website translated into ten world languages, with about 17,000 labels and an award for media promotion of security of the Croatian Association of Security Managers.
“Minister Nikolina Brnjac visited and presented the “Safe Stay” project in our emitting markets, and with this project, we branded Croatia as a safe destination. In 2021, we also paid great attention to domestic tourists and year-round tourism, and accordingly, the Ministry initiated and launched the first national campaign, “Experience local. Explore rural Croatia!” Glavina added.
Aware of the importance of tourism for the whole country, the Government has provided special measures to help the tourism sector, not only in preserving jobs (which was vital for the tourism sector) but also providing state aid to companies in the tourism and sports sector through the Program granting state aid in the form of guarantees to the tourism and sports sectors in the pandemic. For the Program, with a total value of 1.5 billion kuna, the threshold of allowed aid was subsequently increased to 1.8 million euros. Furthermore, the duration of support was extended until the last day of this year. Therefore, it is not unimportant to say that by November 2021, state guarantees had been issued under the program for as many as 156 companies.
In the sea of numbers and dizzying amounts, it is essential to say that HRK 36 million has been provided through a public call for support to travel agencies and travel organizers. In addition, the sector was relieved of HRK 118 million by adopting the Ordinance on deferral or exemption from paying tourist tax, Ordinance on the exemption from paying tourist tax for persons using the overnight service on a nautical tourism vessel (sailors), Ordinance amending the Ordinance on annual lump sum membership fees for persons providing catering services in the household and on family farms and the Tourist Board forms for paying membership fees to the Tourist Board. All of this was of great importance to entrepreneurs and our private renters.
On top of all this, I must highlight and praise our entire tourism sector, which has once again shown resilience and was one of the main generators of good economic results in 2021, and this is confirmed by record GDP growth,” said the Secretary of State.
Europe also recognized the effort and work of our tourism workers; for the first time, a package of direct grants from EU funds was provided for the tourism sector, worth HRK 2.2 billion. The Ministry held eight workshops for potential beneficiaries within the NPOO in Osijek, Varaždin, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Pazin, and Zagreb about 3,000 interested stakeholders participated live and online. A database with a questionnaire on the status of projects has been established. For better preparation through webinars, guidelines for project preparation, examples of good practice, and a B2B platform for connecting investors and suppliers in the tourism sector were presented.
This year, Croatia was very active in foreign policy in terms of tourism.
“In addition to our very active role in the EU institutions in facilitating tourist travel in the second pandemic year. This year, we also achieved great international success by electing a member of the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for the period 2021-2025 during the session of the 66th meeting of the Regional Commission for Europe in Athens. In addition, the Republic of Croatia took over the Committee on Tourism and Sustainability chairmanship from 2021 to 2023. As a result, the reputation and influence of the Republic of Croatia in the EU and the world in tourism policy are constantly growing. Therefore, we will use every opportunity to put tourism topics and policies that are important to us on the agenda,” reveals Glavina.
There will be significant changes in the system of tourist boards. Announcing vacancies for directors of all levels of tourist boards is topical, as well as the new Ordinance on special conditions for employees in tourist boards and the Law on Tourist Boards adopted in 2019, and provisions relating to the selection, appointment, and the statuses of directors of tourist boards come into force on the first day of next year.
“As far as ordinances and laws are concerned, I must remind you that before the pandemic in 2019, the reform of the legal framework began. It is focused on the sustainability and professionalization of the tourist board system, where directors will have a four-year term. The aim of these reforms is, among other things, to make the tourism market more accessible and competitive, and to provide an opportunity for all those who can contribute to the best positioning of Croatia as a sustainable and responsible tourist destination to try and achieve it, with clearly defined conditions. The draft rulebook also gives the opportunity to apply for the position of director to persons who have work experience in management positions outside the field of tourism, but in that case, twice as many years of work experience are required as for persons who have work experience in tourism,” concludes Glavina.
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