The Youtube Channel ‘’TOP Observe’’ recently released an interesting video on the Top 20 beautiful countries in the world in 2018. And to our joy and pride, but not unexpectedly, Croatia was featured on this prestigious list.

TOP Observe is all about Top lists for anything or anyone. They also publish top documentary for education purpose. However, this time they selected and recommended 20 wonderful countries across the globe to visit next year describing each country with a nice comment.

1. Scotland (‘’The world’s most beautiful country is revealed’’)

2. Canada (‘’A home of lumberjacks, beavers and maple syrup’’)

3. New Zealand (‘’New Zealand is not a small country but a large village’’)

4. Italy (‘’Italy has been a source of inspiration for many travellers for centuries’’)

5. South Africa (‘’It has to rate as one of the best with the variety from wildlife to beaches’’)

6. Indonesia (‘’The surfing - the waves in Indonesia are amazing’’)

7. England (‘’England and America are two countries separated by the same language’’)

8. Iceland (‘’Come for the dramatic landscapes and uncommon beauty’’)

9. USA (‘’USA is protected for posterity with the world’s best national park system’’)

10. Wales (‘’As well as the stunning mountains and forests’’)

11. Slovenia (‘’Mountains, forests, lakes, seashore, old towns, friendly people and great food’’)

12. Mexico (‘’Mexico is not short on culture, history and natural beauty’’)

13. India (‘’India is culturally the most beautiful country in the world’’)

14. Finland (‘’Perhaps one of Europe’s most enigmatic countries’’)

15. Switzerland (‘’You can’t leave out Switzerland when talking about beautiful countries’’)

16. Peru (‘’The Amazon jungle, seemingly endless deserts and lofty snow-capped mountains’’)

17. Norway (‘’I want to travel. Maybe I’ll end up living in Norway, making cakes’’)

18. Ireland (‘’Among the romantic preconceptions visitors bring to Ireland’’)

19. Croatia (‘’Croatia has historic cities such as Dubrovnik and Split’’)

20. Vietnam (‘’Vietnam has a huge wealth of easily appreciated natural beauty’’).

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, the sequel to Universal's movie hit Mamma Mia, has been filmed on the Croatian island of Vis during the September and October and now the first look trailer has been published. And it's full of scenes made on this beautiful island! 

The filming of the Croatian part of a new sequel of the popular romantic comedy hit from 2008, engaged more than 270 filmmakers and statists from Croatia. ‘’Mamma Mia’’ producers were extremely satisfied with their experience of filming in Croatia.

The Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again premiere is announced for summer 2018 with the original film crew - Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper as well as with Lily James, Josh Dylan, Jeremy Irvine, Alexa Davies and Jessica Keenan Wynn.

Everybody are more than excited to see the movie and recognize the beautiful island of Vis, with which all the crew members were enchanted.

Due to the increased number of people that are crossing the borders because of the holidays, Police department of Dubrovnik-Neretva County wanted to warn everybody that the biggest crowds are expected on border crossings from Friday afternoon (December 22nd) to Sunday afternoon (December 24th). 

Considering that during border control police officers have to comply with the EU Directives on so-called systematic border control that involves the control of every passenger and vehicle, Police asks everybody to be patient and to plan their journeys in advance, so they can arrive at the destination at the planned time.

The Police of Dubrovnik-Neretva County will make use of all available human and technical resources to ensure a better flow of traffic across border crossings.

Fourth weekend of the Dubrovnik Winter Festival is full of music events, including the Dubrovnik Christmas Concert by the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marc Tardue and Delo Jusic, accompanied by tenors Dani Stipanicev and Stijepo Gled Markos, soprano Maria Kuhar Sosa, vocalist Maja Grgic, vocal groups Ragusa, Subrenum and Kase, young band from Lapad – Dapal. The concert will take place on the stage of the Hotel Valamar Lacroma and the whole program will be enriched with the stories of Christmas in Dubrovnik by art historian Maja Nodari. 

Dubrovnik Christmas Concert will be held on Friday, December 22nd in the hotel Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik, starting at 8 pm. At the same time music program Dubrovnik acoustic session will be held at Pile.

Children's programs at the Teddy Bear Park (Park Pile) will be held on December 21st and 22nd from 5pm to 7pm.
The Colorful Winter Program in the Lapad Bay continues this week on Saturday, December 23rd, with the performance of the Dance Studio Lazareti and the creative program of the Le Petit Festival du Theater. On the promenade in Lapad Bay, you will have the chance to hear traditional Christmas songs from the musical workshop led by Paola Drazic Zekic and Sanja Drazic, continued with the Christmas concert of the Dapal band.

Live Nativity scene will be held on Saturday at 5.30 pm, followed by the lighting up of the last advent candle - the candle of love, in front of the cathedral of Dubrovnik, at 7.30 pm.

The musical program from 7 to 9 pm is in the hands of Maja Grgic and Igor Vlahusic who will play at Gundulic square.
Marko Tolja Septet will have a concert at 9 pm in front of St. Blasius Chruch.

Good news from Luza information center for all those who are looking for Christmas gifts is that a special Christmas action begins today, with the purchased umbrella and puzzle - the third item is free - until December 24th, and from December 22nd to 24th, there is a discount of 20 percent when purchasing small notebook of the Dubrovnik Winter Festival.

Christmas and New Year are just around the corner thus a large number of Croatian citizens have decided to spend their winter vacation outside the country.

The hotel search browser Trivago reveals the 10 most popular destinations in the festive season among Croats.

The most desirable destination of many Croats this year is the city of Zagreb thanks to the more popular and richer Advent program as well as to various New Year’s Eve events that make Zagreb the most popular destination in 2017.

With the average accommodation price of 77 Euros per night, on the list of the most desirable Christmas destinations among Croats, Zagreb is followed by Vienna (132€), Amsterdam (148€), New York (254€), Budapest (85€), Prague (101€), Roma (99€), London (171€), Istanbul (67€) and Tenerife (175€).

When it comes to New Year’s Eve, the most sought after destination among Croats is again Zagreb with the average accommodation price of 84 Euros per night. However, many Croats have opted for Budapest (135€), Sarajevo (72€), Amsterdam (215€), Belgrade (91€), Prague (177€), Dubrovnik (118€), Vienna (172€), Budva in Montenegro (76€) and Paris (182€).

In general, according to Trivago, the most searched destinations for New Year’s Eve this year are London, New York, Paris, Dubai and Prague.

The Advent candles in the centre of the Old City of Dubrovnik seem to have a new resident.

With three of the four candles already lit as Christmas Day comes ever closer a local cat has found a warm place to cat nap during the day. And with the chilly weather in Dubrovnik at the moment it would seem like a warm and cosy spot for this friendly feline to set up home.

We hope she has a purrfect Christmas!

The Christmas spirit is in full swing and festive trees are being sold and purchased up and down the country.

According to statistics, Croatia has recorded a significant decline in exports of fresh Christmas trees. Thus, this year most Croatian homes will be filled with the scent of Christmas trees imported from Denmark.

The decline in turnover of Christmas trees is usually recorded at the state level. Thus, last year we saw turnover drop by 266 percent in comparison to 2015, whilst imports decreased by only 1.6 percent.

According to video reports and photos in the media, towns and cities throughout Croatia offer a wide selection of fresh Christmas trees in order to satisfy everyone’s needs and preferences. However, sellers are commenting that the price of a Christmas tree was less important in the 1990’s than today and that people used to stand in line to buy one.

All and all, no matter whether the Christmas tree is from Denmark or Croatia, the most important thing is to buy one, decorate it with your family and enjoy a real festive atmosphere.

According to the latest ITU report, Croatia is among countries with the biggest progress in the development of Information and communications technology (ICT).

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has released a global report on the information society titled ‘’Measuring the Information Society Report 2017’’.

The report analyzes the development of ICT in all UN member countries, whilst the ICT Development Index (IDI) as an integral part of the report serves as a measure to compare countries according to the degree of ICT development.

The Croatian IDI recorded a growth from 6,96 percent in 2016 to 7,24 percent in 2017, thus, the country placed as the 36th in the world and ranked among six countries that advanced on the list for five and more places (last year Croatia placed as the 42nd).

Among European countries, the Republic of Croatia advanced the most on the list (for six places) and placed as the 24th in comparison to the 30th place in 2016. Croatia left many European countries behind such as Greece, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary and Poland.

The ITU also stated that ICT use in households in Croatia is relatively high, whilst the number of internet users is constantly rising mostly thanks to the significant increase in the number of active users of broadband internet access through the mobile network, whose prices are among the lowest in the world in relation to the gross national income.

At the end of the report, in the part related to Croatia, ITU concluded that the country has a well-developed telecommunications infrastructure and continues to invest in its modernization.