New visitor centre to be built to showcase one of Croatia’s national parks.
Krasno Visitors Centre will soon be built at the Northern Velebit National Park. The project is worth 30 million kuna, and 95 percent of the costs will be covered from EU funds, announced the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The Ministry pointed out that the project is important for attracting new visitors and that the benefits from investments in the protected area will be felt by local economy through the ability to market its services and products to tourists. “We are creating new green jobs and enabling sustainable green tourism”, said minister of environment and nature protection Mihael Zmajlović, reports Novi List on October 9, 2015.
Director of the Northern Velebit National Park Mirjana Javor signed the contract for construction works with Marija Janžetić, director of AB Gradnja from Karlovac. The company has won the tender for the construction works. The value of the construction of the Krasno Visitors Centre is almost 10 million kuna. The works will commence later this month and should be finished by September 2016. Director of the Northern Velebit National Park pointed out that the construction of the visitor centre will improve conditions for the development of tourism in Lika-Senj County, because visitors will stay longer in Krasno and surrounding areas.
Javor added that the centre will present to visitors information about the climate, ecosystems, species, cultural heritage and geological characteristics of the Northern Velebit National Park. The focus will be on the caves for which the park is known. The remaining 20 million kuna will be spent on equipment needed for the centre.
Construction of the Krasno Visitors Centre will enable presentation of natural and cultural attractions of the park throughout the year, as well as promotion of sites which might be of interest for tourists. The new visitor centre will be built in accordance with the idea of energy efficiency, while the architecture will fit in with the landscape surrounding it.
The total value of the project being implemented by the Northern Velebit National Park is 30,986,539 kuna. About 29.6 million kuna will be financed from EU funds, which amounts to 95 percent of the total value. The rest of the funding was provided by the Fund for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency and the Northern Velebit National Park.
