''Croatia is the top candidate of European health tourism'', experts say at the HTI conference currently being held in Rovinj, which has gathered 300 distinguished guests from all around the world.

On this occasion, the president of the American Medical Tourism Association Jonathan Edelheit has said that Croatia is the leading destination in Europe because it has great potential in top medical professionals, nature, location, hospitals and health resorts like the one on the island of Losinj. ‘’With investments this health resort could attract visitors from China who highly appreciate well known sanatoria for the respiratory system issues’’.

These are only some of the highlights at the Health Tourism Industry (HTI) conference, which is taking place at the Hotel Lone in Rovinj from the 28th of February to the 2nd of March. Apart from the conference on medical tourism, the conference also includes two more international events – ILHA’s European Luxury Hospitality Summit and Taste the Mediterranean Festival.

The Croatian Minister Gari Cappelli has addressed to the leaders of European and international institutions from Slovenia, Montenegro, Hungary, Portugal, Serbia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France and the US. ‘’Health tourism is one of the key products in the development of Croatia’s tourism till 2020, thus as soon as the country solves the legislative regulations it will be ready to invest already prepared 400 million Kunas’’, explained Cappelli.

In addition, the vice president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) for tourism, trade and finances Josip Zaher has commented that health tourism is the fastest growing form of tourism in Europe, which is not seasonal, with the average growth rate of 15 to 20 percent annually. ‘’Europe is a world leader in tourism, however, projections show that the current 50 percent market share of all tourist arrivals will decline to almost 40 percent. We need a joint promotion of Europe as a destination for health tourism’’, concluded Zaher.

On the second day of the conference, the main topic of lectures and presentations was luxury tourism, whilst one of the guest speakers was the American actress Eva LaRue, who is also an expert in luxury travel and a promoter of the American internet platform Dot Luxury.

It was an action packed day yesterday on the set of Robin Hood: Origins with horse chases, fireballs and ear deafening explosions that echoed through the narrow side streets of Dubrovnik. The main street through the Old City, Stradun, was once again the centre of attention with Jamie Foxx as Little John speeding along the cobbled street in a cart.

The horse chase began at the Pile end of the Stradun and saw four Knights on horseback chase Foxx through a tunnel and along the main street whilst explosions and fireballs filled the air. A body double was used for many of the scenes as the cart raced at breakneck speed over the stone streets.

Once again there was a buzz of anticipated on the set of Robin Hood as the star of Fifty Shades of Grey, Jamie Dornan, was expected to make his first appearance. However it would seem that the Northern Irish hunk will have only small part in Dubrovnik as he had a free day yesterday. After arriving two days ago Jamie Dornan, who plays Will Scarlet in this Leonardo DiCaprio produced Hood, has been recovering from his long-haul flight across the Atlantic from the Oscar ceremonies.

Taron Egerton also briefly appeared on the Dubrovnik set yesterday and caused a storm on social media as a rumour spread that it was in fact Dornan.

And Taron Egerton arriving on set

Video courtesy of Break Time Dubrovnik 

According to a press release from Croatia Airlines, the national air carrier has included new flights to Bucharest and Helsinki in its summer schedule for 2017.

Croatia Airlines has never operated scheduled flights to these two European capitals. However, it will have no direct competition on the routes to Bucharest and Helsinki.

In 2007, over 8,000 people travelled between Zagreb and the Romanian capital, however, after several attempts of launching scheduled flights between the two cities in the last decade, there were no results. Croatia Airlines has recognized the great potential of this route, thus will introduce new flights this summer season.

Furthermore, within its expansion plans for coverage of Northern Europe, Finland will become a new market for Croatia Airlines in order to respond to the growing tourism demand there. Finnair itself has been considering introduction of services to Zagreb for some time, ''“The Croatian market serves as a great destination for Finnair customers from Northern Europe and Asia. We have also seen increasing numbers of passengers from Croatia using Finnair on their trips. Our tourist demand for Croatian destinations has been growing year by year and we have increased our flights to the area consequently”.
The Finish air carrier currently operates seasonal flights from Helsinki to Dubrovnik, Pula and Split during summer months.

On the other hand, the Croatian national air carrier has also planned to start operating flights to Stockholm this summer as part of its expansion plan.

The Croatian brand Juicy has attended Gulfood, the world's largest food event which is being held at Dubai World Trade Centre from the 26th of February to the 2nd of March.

With its line of Juicy 100 % juices (orange, apple, pineapple) and Juicy Nectar cranberry, the Croatian company Stanic Beverages has been present on the market of the United Arab Emirates since 2015, primarily in the HoReCa channel which makes 70 percent of exports to that country. The Juicy juices have been included in the offer of some of the most popular local and international chains of restaurants and clubs in Dubai, such as Cipriani, Blue Marlin Ibiza, The Act, Roberto's and Dubai Creek Golf&Yacht Club.

''Our products are currently available on the UEA market and we are in the stage of registration of our products for the markets of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. However, our goal is to cover the whole MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) of 380 million people and to achieve the medium term plan for exports of 10 million litres per year. It is a lucrative market with very high consumption of juice per capita mainly because alcoholic beverages are almost unavailable in retail'', explained Svjetlan Stanic, the CEO of Stanic Beverages Croatia.

This year Juicy has planned a more powerful entry in retail channels (that currently make up 30 percent of exports to the MENA region) thanks to cooperation with retail chains Geant and Panda which are present on almost 20 percent of the Saudi Arabia market. The Juicy's plan is to launch Juicy 100% orange, apple and pineapple, as well as Juicy Nectar cranberry, orange, apple and pineapple, with a long term goal of expanding the offer depending on consumers' preferences.

''Juicy premium juices are juices of superior quality which have been recognized by consumers on new markets. The quality control is extremely strict and products must be tested in order to comply with high standards and legislation. We are proud to say that Juicy juices have complied with all necessary regulations and requirements'', emphasized Alen Hrkovic, the director of exports.

First of March brings good news – after being closed during February, Dubrovnik Cable Car is back on track from today.

Just a quick reminder – Excelsa Real Estate Ltd, the company that operates the cable car, made an announcement at the end of January, reporting that the cable car will be out of service due to investments projects on the upper station.

- The purpose of these works is to improve the quality of services – it was said from the company back then.

It's been five years since the last performance of legendary Sir Tom Jones in Croatia. He's coming again to the ''scene of the crime'' this summer. Concert will take place in the beautiful Pula Arena on 2nd of August as the part of his European tour. 

Audience will have a chance to enjoy many great hits like "It’s Not Unusual", "Kiss", "Delilah", "What’s New Pussycat", "I’ll Never Fall In Love Again", "If I Only Knew" from his over 50 years long rich career.

- Croatia, I am thrilled to be playing one of the world's largest and oldest Roman amphitheatres, the Pula Arena, this August, it looks beautiful! – it's written on Tom Jones official Facebook page.

In his long career Jones has sold over 100 million records with thirty-six Top 40 hits in the United Kingdom and nineteen in the United States, including "It's Not Unusual", "What's New Pussycat", "Delilah", "Green, Green Grass of Home", "She's a Lady", "Kiss", and "Sex Bomb".

Sir Thomas John Woodward or simply Tom Jones received a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1966, an MTV Video Music Award in 1989, and two Brit Awards: Best British Male in 2000 and the Outstanding Contribution to Music award in 2003. Jones was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1999, whilst in 2006 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music.

At the opening of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on the 27th of February the leading Croatian telecommunications company Hrvatski Telekom (HT) has introduced a new service called Call-Lifting.

In cooperation with Deutsche Telekom, the Croatian company has premiered new network technology Narrow Band IoT and a pilot project for using Smart City solutions through this network technology.

After launching CloudVPN in 2015 and Cloud CPU in 2016, at this year's Mobile World Congress the HT company has represented a new service that combines a smart phone and an autonomous drone. This innovative combination of existing technologies offers users a new experience of communication that was developed in order to become part of the global offer of Deutsche Telecom.

It is about an upgrade of the classic video call with the help of an autonomous drone that connects with a user's mobile device. A caller operates a drone that is focused on the area where the caller is located. Thanks to the built-in camera and a drone view function, this service enables live streaming i.e. sharing the aerial footage in real time with a person the caller called.

Call-Lifting enables transmission of experience, emotions and fun with a single call; the experience is so real that the person who receives the call has a feeling of participation in the experience of the caller. This service is ideal for sharing experiences in moments of relaxation and recreation, during various sports competitions, but it also has a great potential for usage in the economy, mainly in construction and agriculture.

Deutsche Telekom represented the new service in Barcelona with live video call from Croatia, thus many visitors at the Mobile World Congress had a chance to watch live attractive scenes captured by a drone flying over Dubrovnik.

''This service only indicates that Hrvatski Telekom is a technology leader who is focused on creatingservices of the future recognized by the international community'', said Ana Pauzar, the head of the HT Department for product development and new business offer.

In addition, the project manager Slavica Zoricic commented that this was the initial version of the service which would be developed for the commercial usage. ''I'm pretty sure that this service will have great success in Croatia in terms of tourism potential, as well as in other aspects of usage in the increasingly active lifestyle of a new era'', concluded Zoricic.

Famous Croatian cellists Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, known by the name 2Cellos have been guests on The Today Show, American news and talk morning show that airs on NBC. 

They delighted everybody with amazing live perfomance of Game of Thrones theme. This track is from their newest album 'Score', made with the London Symphony Orchestra, that will be released on March 17.

In the talk before the performance, host stated that they don't have classical fans.
- Everybody! From children to grandmas and grandpas – said Luka Sulic.

After stating that they played the cellos almost they whole life, famous duo played them once again. 2Cellos never seem to disappoint, so this live performance was really enchanting.