The fire service on the island of Lokrum not only protect Dubrovnik’s closest island from fires but they also spend hours and hours maintain the thick forests, cutting new paths and creating a safe and enjoyable environment. They also provide new benches for visitors to enjoy the panoramic views.

However, as this photo clearly shows, not every visitor to the island has the same respect for the hard work that goes into looking after and improving the island of Lokrum. Some mindless vandals have spray-painted on one of the very benches that the Lokrum fire service installed. As the Twitter feed of lovelokrum commented "Sad to see our firefighters hard and beautiful work runied with spray paint. Please keep our island beautiful for everyone."  

Two questions spring to mind, why would someone do this and why would someone take a can of spray paint to a nature reserve? God Help Us indeed!

The draw for the 2020 European Championships qualification groups was made today in Dublin and it has been kind for Croatia. Croatia have been drawn in Group E and will face Wales, Hungary, Slovakia and Azerbaijan.

The Euros 2020 will be played in 12 European countries from the 12th of June to the 12th of July, and the semi-finals and finals will be played at Wembley Stadium in London.

The matches of the first qualifying round will be played from March 21st to March 23rd 2019, and the final round is scheduled from the 17th to the 19th of November next year.

Rough Guides is responding to a changing travel market. For people who love adventure but are time-poor, Rough Guides is now organising tailor-made trips.

From winter 2018, the trusted travel brand will be creating bespoke trips based on customers’ individual wants and needs. From now on, customers won’t only need to rely on the Rough Guides books, blog, and podcast to get great travel advice, but can have a holiday tailor-made for them too. A local expert will turn the customer’s preferred destination, budget, and activities into a dream trip.

Package holidays and group tours can be soulless and uninteresting, but organising your own unique trip where you really experience the true culture of a place can be time-consuming. Rough Guides is launching a service to solve this problem – an adventurous trip is planned by local experts, and because it’s completely unique to each traveller, it is not the typical package holiday (you know - those that involve predictable visits to top attractions frequented mainly by other tourists. Yawn).

Each Rough Guides trip will cater for those with an adventurous spirit and include quirky locations that are off-the-beaten-track. The trip is planned by a local expert who lives in the area and knows the destination incredibly well. This means that every holiday will give a real flavour of the area and contain visits to places that are not frequented by the general tourist crowd.

What is the benefit of having your trip planned for you? Read more here: https://www.roughguides.com/article/should-you-book-a-tailor-made-trip-with-rough-guides/

Because the trips are fully bespoke and customisable, they are suitable for travellers who want to spend less time planning and more time enjoying the perfect trip away. People who book a Rough Guides trips will get a trip that is:

● Independent and unique – we don’t sell pre-planned packages. Each trip is unique to the customer, so no two will be the same.

● Adventurous– an adventurous spirit has no age limit. We champion adventurous travel for all, and get to know each customer’s wants and needs before seeking out the best experiences in their destination.

● Authentic – we understand that travellers don’t just want the same old thing wherever they go. That’s why we make sure that each trip helps travellers ‘live like locals’ and gives them a chance to experience the true charm of a place.

● Planned by a destination expert – with their knowledge, the expert can create unique, authentic itineraries that are completely personalised. The expert knows what’s worth seeing and what isn’t, how to avoid the crowds, and how to stay safe.

Rough Guides CEO, René Frey, comented that “As our readership has evolved over the years, we’re conscious that not everyone wants to travel the same way. Many people want to hand the time-consuming planning process to an expert and use the time saved to immerse themselves in the culture of a place. While many of our loyal readers would never travel without their Rough Guide, they perhaps want an itinerary that is a little less rough. And accommodation that’s not rough at all. So as part of our commitment to continue to serve adventurous travellers of all ages, we’re proud to launch our tailor-made trips.”

Croatia is preparing for the next step of European Union membership with the adoption of the Euro as the official currency. The first step could come as soon as next year as the Central Bank Governor, Boris Vujcic, announced that the exchange rate with which Croatia is expected to enter the Exchange Rate Mechanism could be set next year.

This is very much the first stage of changing the currency from the Kuna to the Euro. As part of the Exchange Rate Mechanism the national currency of an EU member state is tied to the Euro. The idea is to give the currency a balanced exchange rate on entry meaning that the transition period from one currency to another is seamless.

"There will be no conversion cost for citizens. It will be automatic, based on the exchange rate to be established earlier," commented Vujcic. Adding that “That will be the rate with which we will enter the Exchange Rate Mechanism and which we will de facto have to maintain as long as we are in the Mechanism, which essentially means that this will be, possibly with very small oscillations, end up being the conversion rate," Vucic added.

Croatia, as part of the EU membership, is obliged to take the Euro as the official currency and it would appear from comments by the Croatian Prime Minster that a referendum will not be held to ask the public’s opinion.

In the words of the Prime Minister a referendum for the introduction of the Euro has already been held when a referendum on Croatia’s accession into the European Union. However, quite plainly, this wasn’t the question on the voting ballots in the referendum the Prime Minister is convinced that when citizens voted yes to join the EU that the automatically also signed up for all the other EU treaties and projects.

Responding to a journalist's request on a referendum on introducing the Euro, the Prime Minister said it had already been resolved. "When we had a referendum on Croatia's accession to the European Union, we voted on the Accession Treaty. The Accession Treaty states that Croatia will join the European area," commented said Plenković.

For years Croatia's central bank has maintained the local currency Kuna in an already narrow fluctuation band, set between approximately 7.4 and 7.6 to the Euro, which some critics say makes the Kuna over-appreciated, hampering export-oriented businesses.

The Dubrovnik Diving Club, with the support of the City of Dubrovnik as well as volunteers from the Old City of Dubrovnik, cleared the seabed in the old city harbour yesterday.

Various waste material was removed from the sea of this busy port, including glass, metal and car tyres. Along with the divers from the Dubrovnik Diving Club there were also divers from archaeological institutions who explored the area around the iconic breakwater “Kaša.” This Dubrovnik landmark is being researched ahead of a project to repair the breakwater.

The fifth Dubrovnik Winter Festival opened last night! After the first Advent candle was lit by the Mayor of Dubrovnik the festive lights all over the city were turned on and the Winter Festival was officially opened.

Thousands of people descended on the Old City of Dubrovnik last night and the atmosphere was magical, a true holiday atmosphere. The festive stands throughout the city opened their doors and the aroma of traditional Christmas delicacies filled the night sky.

The popular singer, Petar Graso, brought a lively atmosphere to the Stradun as the crowds sang along to his greatest hits. With the decorations, the Christmas trees and the festive stands it really felt like Christmas had arrived to the city.

The first Advent candle was lit in Dubrovnik last night. The Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, lit the first of four Advent candles as the Christmas period officially begun in Dubrovnik.

The Advent candles are located between the Rector’s Palace and the Cathedral and every Saturday a new candle will be lit as the festive season approaches.

Hundreds of people turned up to see ceremony as it coincided with the opening of the Dubrovnik Winter Festival.

Americans have certainly fallen in love with Croatia this year with almost 600,000 US guests arriving in Croatia in 2018. According to the eVisitor computer system which collects data on tourists in Croatia there have been around 578,000 American tourists in Croatia in 2018, which is an incredible 23 percent increase over the same period from last year.

And the favourite destinations for tourists from the United States has been Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb, Hvar and Rovinj.

Surprisingly American tourists have been the second most numerous in Dubrovnik this year, after British tourists, which bearing in mind there are no direct flights from the US to Dubrovnik, or in fact from the US to Croatia at all, makes this figure is ever more impressive.

The American Ambassador to Croatia was quick to Tweet the news “Americans continue to embrace Croatia. According to data from eVisitor, so far in 2018, there have been 578,000 visits recorded from the United States. This is a 23% increase compared to last year. Top destinations for Americans were Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb, Hvar and Rovinj.”

And next year this figure will rise considerably, especially in Dubrovnik, as direct flights for the first time in 28 years will connect Dubrovnik and Philadelphia. American Airlines will operate seasonal flights to Dubrovnik from Philadelphia through June to September.

The HBO series, Game of Thrones, and the fact that large sections were filmed in Dubrovnik, which plays King’s Landing, have obviously had a massive effect on the American interest in visiting Dubrovnik. With organised fan tours, souvenir shops and even a Game of Thrones visitor’s centre with an actual throne on the nearby island of Lokrum, Dubrovnik is a mecca for the huge number of fans of the series.