In the period from January to October 2018, there were 72 foreign vessels on cruises that arrived in Croatian seaports, which realised 644 journeys. A total of 976 thousand passengers were on board and they stayed for 1,267 days in Croatia.

The highest number of cruises was realised by vessels under the flag of Bahamas (167 cruises) and Malta (147 cruises), while the highest number of passengers on board the arrived vessels were under the flag of Panama (257 thousand passengers) and Bahamas (213 thousand passengers).

Out of the total of 644 journeys of foreign vessels on cruises, the majority was realised in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County (56.5%) and the County of Split-Dalmatia (24.7%), which makes up to the total of 81.2 percent of the total number of cruise arrivals in Croatia. The most visited seaports were Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar. The majority of visits of foreign vessels on cruise were realised in the seaport of Dubrovnik (487 visits), followed by the seaports of Split (224 visits) and Zadar (111 visits).

Over the first ten months of the year the number of cruise ships arriving in Croatian waters was exactly the same as last year, whilst the number of passengers increased by 9.4 percent.

According to a survey carried out by the agency Promocija Plus over half of directors in Croatia don’t expect an upturn in the country’s financial situation in 2019. In total 432 company owners, directors and senior executives were asked on the future of Croatia’s economy for next year and 51 percent stated that they expected no change.

Only a meagre 34 percent said that 2019 would see an economic improvement in Croatia which somewhat reflects the mood of business people in the country. Only 5 percent of those polled see the situation in the outgoing year as excellent, while the same amount describe it as extremely bad.

From a scale of 1 to 5 the majority of business leaders gave the financial situation a score of only 3.01. The General Director of the Croatian Employers Association stated that this result was due to high taxes of businesses, inefficient public administration, poor judiciary, non-fiscal tariffs, and labour legislation as well as corruption and labour shortages as main barriers to doing business, and added the government needs to launch reforms to remove those obstacles as soon as possible.

The Feast of St. Nicholas on the 6th of December 1991 will remain forever in the history of Dubrovnik as the day of the fierce attacks, but also the day when the freedom of the city was bravely defended.

On this day 27 years ago at exactly 5.50am attacks from the Yugoslav National Army with warships, planes and cannons attacked Dubrovnik with all their might with the aim of weakening the defence lines around the city from Belvedere to Sustjepan. The Yugoslav Nationals Army’s bombardment of Dubrovnik, including that of the Old Town—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—culminated on 6 December 1991. The bombardment provoked international condemnation, and became a public relations disaster for Serbia and Montenegro, contributing to their diplomatic and economic isolation, as well as the international recognition of Croatia's independence.

Black Friday as this day was to be known was the fiercest attack on Dubrovnik, not only during the Homeland War, but in the entire and lengthy history of this Adriatic city. And Black Friday also represents a turning point in the siege of the city as the Croatian defenders managed to defeat the numerous attacks from the land, air and sea and therefore foil the plans of the aggressor. After this fatal day the morale of the defenders rose significantly and the Yugoslav National Army realised that taking Dubrovnik would not be as easy as they had hoped. This day, 27 years ago, proved to be a turning point, not only in the defence of Dubrovnik, but also in the Homeland War. In May of 1992, the Yugoslav National Army retreated to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During the offensive on the 6th of December the Old City was struck by 48 82-millimetre missiles, 232 82-millimetre and 364 120-millimetre mortar shells, as well as 22 wire-guided missiles. Two impact craters indicated the use of heavier weapons. The bombardment was concentrated on Stradun—the central promenade of the Old City—and areas north-east of Stradun, while other parts of the Old City sustained relatively few impacts. The attack subsided at 11:30 am. It killed 13 civilians—the heaviest loss of civilian life during the siege of Dubrovnik.

The Reuters list of “Pictures of the Year” for 2018 features an iconic image of Croatian footballers at the World Cup semi-finals in Russia. Just after Croatia had scored against England to take the lead in the semi-finals the players charged into the crowd but on the way they unwittingly knocked over an AFP photographer, Yuri Cortez.

With players celebrating literally on top of him Cortez kept his camera clicking and recorded some amazing images. After the celebrations the players picked up the photographer, dusted him off and apologised for knocking him over.

In fact, Yuri Cortez took on a cult status in Croatia after the incident and the Croatian National Tourist Board paid for him and his family to come over from Mexico to Croatia for a seven-day holiday. And The Dubrovnik Times caught up with him during his visit to our city. 

The breaking news that Ryanair would be operating flights to Dubrovnik and Split next summer season came as a surprise, and none more so than to Dubrovnik and Split airports. Even though the news was widely released two days ago in the Irish press and in fact all over the world that for the first time ever the low-cost airline would operate flights to Dubrovnik it would appear that the airport knew nothing about these new flights.

Speaking to the Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List a spokesperson at Dubrovnik Airport commented that “We are surprised with Ryanair’s announcement that next summer they will launch flights to Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik Airport has received no official information about their arrival, nor has any agreement regarding slots or services with them been signed.”

And it would appear that Split airport is also completely in the dark about this breaking news with their spokesperson adding that “Nothing has changed at this period with regards to Split Airport and Ryanair. Our officials were at a conference in the middle of November in Madrid where flights were discussed. Nevertheless, no contact was made with Ryanair.”

Both airports have no contracts and no agreements with Ryanair and yet tickets for these new connections are available for sale on the airlines website.

Dublin Airport on the other hand seem to be well aware of these new flights with a statement reading “These beautiful Croatian cities are full of culture and history and I have no doubt they will be hugely popular destinations.” Adding that “"We will work close with Ryanair’s management team to promote its new services.”

Ryanair have been trying for years to enter both Dubrovnik and Split airports but to release tickets for sale without an agreement with these airports would seem rather premature to say the very least.

Dubrovnik is certainly in the Christmas spirit with the latest decoration bringing colour and joy to the Stradun. The shop window of the Dubrovnik pharmacy under the main bell tower is now full of advent festivities after students of the Art School decorated it with their “Advent Calendar on the Stradun.”

In order to make Stradun as the central venue for the 5th Dubrovnik Winter Festival even more beautiful and more appropriate for the holiday atmosphere, the City of Dubrovnik created the "Advance Calendar on the Stradun" project.

Various schools are involved in the project and their students will create advent calendars to be displayed on the Stradun. A great idea and one that is helping to bring a touch of colour to the Old City over the festive season.

One of the leading car manufacturers in the world, South Korea's Hyundai, is considering open a factory in Croatia. According to reports in the Croatian media the South Korean car giant is seriously exploring the possibilities of launching a production facility in Croatia.

Apparently the Croatian government and Hyundai have been in negotiations for two months and they are currently analysing the potential investment. Further details as to the size of the investment are still unknown however it is believed that a site in northern Croatia is being considered and that the future plant will not just be for making parts but for actually producing the finished product.

If the South Korean automobile giant ultimately decides on such an investment, it would be of great importance to Croatia because it would open up a large number of new jobs, further boost exports, and better position the country on the investment map.

The attraction of the automotive industry to Croatia is one of the goals of the Government. Some companies in Croatia already produce parts for the world auto industry, and Croatia also has its own home-grown electric cars. According to official data, the Croatian car industry employs 2,861 workers.

In the first nine months of this banks in Croatia achieved a pre-tax profit of 5.25 billion Kuna, double the amount they made in the same period from last year.

The Croatian National Bank (CNB) has published the profit and loss accounts for banks in the country this year and it shows that it has been an extremely profitable year so far. In the first nine months of this year there were 23 active banks in Croatia, which is three less than last year, as two banks went into voluntary liquidation and one open bankruptcy proceedings.

Figures from the CNB show that from January to end of September banks in Croatia increased their profits by a healthy 99.7 percent, or around 2.62 billion Kuna.