The bizarre May weather in Dubrovnik this year continued last night when a heavy thunderstorm brought torrential rain and hail, yes hail, to the streets of the city.

At around 3.30am the heavens above Dubrovnik opened and hail fell turning the streets white. Some parts of the city actually flooded as the rain thundered down. The National Weather Service reported that in 8 hours an amazing 44 litres of rain per square metre, which was a national record.

Seeing the cobbled streets of the Old City of Dubrovnik covered in hail in the middle of May was, to the say the least, unusual.

Many videos were made about Dubrovnik, but it seems that we can never get bored of them. Couple of weeks ago video ''Dubrovnik in timelapse'' was published on Youtube. It shows amazing scenes filmed in and around the beautiful Old City in only 54 seconds. Maybe that's why it's so captivating! Take a look and be ready to press ''repeat'' couple more times.

A group of thirty-executive directors of United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) is staying in Croatia from 10th to 17th of May. On the last night of their stay in Dubrovnik, 12th of May, Andro Vlahušić, the mayor of Dubrovnik said that one of his goals is further strenghtening of the bond between Dubrovnik and USA, as well as the re-introduction of direct air connection between New York and Dubrovnik.
- Direct line from New York twice a week will be a strong contribution to a better tourist traffic during the winter months – said the mayor.
President of USTOA, Terry Dale, expressed his personal support for the project of the direct flights to Dubrovnik from New York, thanked the hosts for their hospitality and praised the efforts of the mayor.
Active members of USTOA represent some of the most eminent names in tourism and are a significant part of tour operators in North America. Their stay started in Dubrovnik and will continue in Zagreb and Rovinj. The organizers are Croatian National Tourist Board, as well as Dubrovnik Neretva County Tourist Board and Dubrovnik Tourist Board.
Last year, visitors from USA in Dubrovnik were in second place with an increase of 23 percent in arrivals and 23 percent in overnight stays. This positive pattern continued this year, therefore the importance of this visit is unquestionable for further promotion of Dubrovnik.

According to the Tourist Board of Zagreb 82,945 tourists visited the Croatian capital in April this year and increased the overnight stay figures by 22 percent. Most visitors arriving in Zagreb were guests from South Korea followed by tourists from Italy, Bulgaria, USA and Germany.

Bearing in mind many successes our capital has recorded in the tourism industry, the Zagreb Tourist Board in cooperation with the Department of Education, Culture and Sports has organized a project ''Culture of tourism'' for the sixth year in a row in order to educate high school students about the tourism, cultural and natural resources of Zagreb and raise their awareness of their own city.

Following the interests of the young population and with the potential of Zagreb as a tourist destination, the Tourist Board of Zagreb expects further growth of Zagreb tourism and economic development of the Croatian capital.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble of the University of St. Thomas is coming to Dubrovnik during their spring performance tour in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The concert will take place at the Marin Drzic Theatre on Thursday, 26 of May, at 8 p.m and it's completely free.
The director is Dr. Matthew George and the program will include: Blue Shades Ticheli, Merry Mount Hanson, Spring Variations Uhlik, Shepherd’s Hey Grainger, Unending Stream of Life Maslanka, Overture to Candide Bernstein and Simfonijsko Kolo Gotovac.
After Dubrovnik, they are going to perform at Mostar (27 May), Split (29 may) as well as in Zagreb (31 May). For their 2 last concerts, the American musicians will also perform with students from the University of Zagreb Academy of Music as well as from the of Music University of Split Arts Academy.
The Symphonic Wind Ensemble is composed of 50 talented musicians from St. Paul, Minnesota, USA conducted by Dr. Matthew George.

                                                            Dr. Matthew George

                  The Symphonic Wind Ensemble

Gail Lockwood is ready to donate 100 thousand euros for building the new animal shelter! That was said on the meeting between president of the City council Mato Franković, volunteers from the Association for protection of animals in Dubrovnik Anica Sambrailo and Izabela Perišić, as well as Gail Lockwood, who is known because of helping the Association for years.
With her funds it was possible to sterilize a great number of cats on Elaphites. She has used this opportunity to say that's she ready to donate this big amount of money for the animal shelter in which Association will take the lead and for which the right location is needed.
The meeting was also about the current project of the temporary shelter, which Lockwood finds inappropriate. That was one of the reasons she decided to be a part of the building of the new, adequate shelter.

Walking the streets of the old town of Split in skimpy clothes will soon be a minor offence if the city councillors support the amendment to the decision of communal order which is one of the topics of the agenda for the next session scheduled for Tuesday, May 17.
The proposed amendments will introduce the ban of walking around the city centre in skimpy clothes or in a bathing suit, and of course without any clothes. Control of this regulation will be carried out by municipal staff. The sanction fine will be 500 Kuna if paid on the spot or 1000 Kuna within the misdemeanour procedure.

According to the national newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija - This regulation is just a logical continuation of what has already been done by numerous cities and local authorities along the Adriatic coast largely because of foreign tourists who often walk around the cities minimally dressed in summer months.

The Croatian national airline, Croatia Airlines, could soon find itself under the wings of a new owner. The government are looking to privatise some of the few businesses controlled by the state, including Croatia Airlines, and Turkish Airlines have shown an interest in snapping up the airline.

If we estimate that this is a good business opportunity for Turkish Airlines then we will be interested in investing into Croatia Airlines, confirmed the managing director of HR for the Turkish carrier, Abdulkerim Çay. Yesterday the first flight from Istanbul by Turkish Airlines landed at the Dubrovnik Airport.

Even though the government have shown interest in privatising Croatia Airlines there is still plenty of work to be done before a public tender is announced. There has been no official announcement of the sale of the airline, or a clear model as to which version of privatisation the government will seek, a strategic partner or a complete sale.

- Turkish Airlines is a business and as yet we don’t know which way the sale of Croatia Airlines will go. However if we see a good opportunity between the two companies then we will certainly consider it – commented Abdulkerim Çay during his visit to Dubrovnik Airport.