Dubrovnik-Neretva County Tourist Board is the part of Holiday World fair in Prague, that is held from today to February 19 at the Prague Exhibition Grounds – Holeslovice. The fair is organized for the 26th time.

The first two days of the fair are intended exclusively for professionals in the tourism industry, while the other two days are opened to the general public.

Dubrovnik – Neretva County Tourist Board shares a stand with Croatian Tourist Board, Plitvice Lakes National Park and Bi Village camp from Fazana.

Over 30 thousand visitors are expected at the fair as over 40 countries from all over the world will be presented.

In 2016 around 36 thousand tourists from Czech Republic have visited Dubrovnik-Neretva County, with almost 285 thousand overnight stays.

According to a recent line-up release, the sixth edition of the Dimensions Festival in Pula, Istria from the 30th of August to the 3rd of September this summer will surely attract more electronic music lovers than ever before.

One of the most popular underground electronic music festivals in Croatia and a nominee for the UK Festival Award for the Best Overseas Festival, this year will host the iconic Jamaican singer, songwriter, supermodel and actress Grace Jones who is to perform for the first time in Croatia at the opening of the Dimensions Festival.

Apart from the enigmatic icon of the music scene, a 200 year old Fort Punta Christo in Pula will also host some of the most popular names of electronic beats such as Moderat, Moses Boyd:SoloX, Yussef Kamaal, Jeff Mills, Nina Kraviz, Ata Kak, Theo Parrish, Floating Points, Levon Vincent and many others.

After moving to New York when she was thirteen, Jones started out as a model working for popular names from the fashion industry such as Yves St. Laurent, Claude Montana, and Kenzo Takada. She appeared regularly on the covers of Elle, Vogue and Stern magazines.
In the late 1970s, she made a record deal with Island Records and moved into dance, new wave and reggae music. She entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart with “Pull Up to the Bumper”, “I’ve Seen That Face Before”, “Private Life”, “Slave to the Rhythm” and “I’m Not Perfect”. Her most popular albums include Warm Leatherette (1980), Nightclubbing (1981), and Slave to the Rhythm (1985).

During her music career, she also appeared in some low-budget films in the US during the 1970s and early 1980s. With her role as Zula in the SF film Conan the Destroyer alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, she made her first notable appearance. She also starred in the James Bond movie A View to a Kill, Eddie Murphy’s film Boomerang and Wolf Girl. Jones was nominated for Saturn Awards for Best Supporting Actress for her work in these three films.

In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 40th most successful dance artist of all times.

Beautiful town of Korcula, located on the island that carries the same name, has hit the list of the most romantic small towns in Europe at the famous travel website Conde Nast Traveler.

- Known as “little Dubrovnik” among locals, the seaside town of Korčula (located on the island of Korčula) is Croatia’s best-kept secret. Like Dubrovnik, it’s filled with medieval squares, Romanesque cathedrals, beautifully restored Renaissance buildings, and pretty clay-roofed homes, but its remote location keeps the crowds out and the vibe mellow. It’s also close to vineyards (where you can try the delicious local pošip wine) and gorgeous sandy beaches, which are just a short stroll from the town center – it's written at the website.

Valentine's Day has passed, but you know what they say – you should be romantic during all 365 days, so it's not hard to find an excuse to take your loved one to Korcula. Even if you are not in love, you might fall in love with this town...

The latest data from the European Union statistical office shows that the industrial production in the EU in December declined by 1 percent, whilst Croatia recorded the highest increase so far.

According to Eurostat industrial production in Croatia increased by 3.9 percent in December 2016. Other EU countries that also recorded positive figures were Greece and Malta, both with 2.4 percent increases.

On the other hand, the biggest monthly decline was recorded in Ireland (-11.7%), Germany (-3.1%) and the Czech Republic (-2.2%).

As far as annual figures are concerned, the biggest increases were recorded in Croatia (14.9%), Latvia (11.5%) and Denmark (11.1%).

However, the biggest decline was recorded in Luxembourg (-5.1%), Ireland (-1.8%), Germany (-0.8%) and Sweden (-0.8%).

The data from Eurostat confirmed that the average industrial production growth in the European Union in 2016 was 1.4 percent.

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics reported that industrial production in Croatia in 2016 went up by 5 percent thanks to the production growth for 23 consecutive months and a record jump of almost 15 percent in December. Last year was the third consecutive year in which the production in Croatia increased at a higher rate than in previous years.

Apart from the crystal clear sea, wonderful beaches and numerous islands, the Croatian coast is also known for its dry walls (suhozidi or gromace).

The ancient art of dry wall construction is a building method by which structures were built from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone walls have been traditionally used as arable land and pasture boundaries (in south Europe, Croatia, Ireland, Switzerland and Austria), as well as in building wells and roads.

Due to the karst landscape, many of dry walls along the Croatian coast and on islands were built out of agricultural necessity. It was very hard work for local farmers; they had to move rocks and stones to clear space if they wanted to grow olive trees and grapevines. Then they used those rocks to construct walls that sometimes stretched for kilometres. On the steep slopes, those walls were built as retaining walls or terraces that held the soil and protected plants against the strong winter winds.

The appearance of dry walls often depended on skill level. It was very difficult to fit stones together so effectively so they could withstand for centuries without falling. On the other hand, the form of dry walls followed the function; for example, on the island of Pag dry walls were not built only for agricultural purposes but mainly to divide territory and herd sheep. In some parts of Istria the dry stone technique was used to build shelters that resemble small stone houses (kazuni).

The dry wall technique is centuries old and so are most of the walls. The dividing parcels of land in the area of Stari Grad on the island of Hvar, one of Croatia’s seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, date back to the 4th century BC.

In December 2016 the Croatian Ministry of Culture proclaimed the art of dry wall construction the permanent intangible cultural heritage and put it in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia.

Photos by Ivo Pervan

With Dubrovnik slowly but surely transforming into Nottingham for the upcoming Rood Hood: Origins movie the set constructors are working around the clock. New sets are popping up every day and the two main sets, on the main street Stradun and in the old harbour, are nearing completion.

On the Stradun the wooden construction is now almost as high as the three-storey buildings and is much larger than the set for Star wars which was which in the same location. Along the Stradun halogen lights have been installed, presumably to stop passersby from bumping into “Nottingham.”

Filming is set to start on the 20th of February and is planned to last until the 5th of March.

The most romantic day of the year, St. Valentine’s Day, was marked with a special concert last night by the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. The one-hour program features classic film theme songs and opera music and was held in the atmospheric Marin Drzic Theatre in the very heart of Dubrovnik.

The orchestra were led by British conductor Colin Metters and Dubrovnik maestro Đelo Jusic and romantic poetry of Dubrovnik author, Luko Paljetak, completed a wonderful evening. The concert was organised by the Dubrovnik Tourist Board.

Photos by Zeljko Tutnjevic

Sometimes it takes only a word to make your pressure jump and your nerves tremble, however, the question is – is there a universal sentence that can infuriate almost an entire country?

Just for fun, users on Reddit initiated a discussion and made a map of Europe with provocative statements attributed to different European countries that are expected to make angry the majority of a population of listed countries.

According to this map, Croatians will be most irritated if you call them ‘’Catholic Serbs’’ and Slovenians if you call them ‘’Alpine Serbs’’. On the other hand, something like ‘’Muslim Serbs’’ would get angry citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whilst a statement ‘’Tesla was a Croat’’ can make the blood pressure of majority of Serbian people jump very high.

Creators of this post, which quickly went viral over the internet, wrote that they did not intend to offend anyone or make anyone angry, but they just wanted to have some fun.