Mark Thomas - The editor and big chief of The Dubrovnik Times. Born in the UK he has been living and working in Dubrovnik since 1998, yes he is one of the rare “old hands.” A unique insight into both British and Croatian life and culture, Mark is often known as just “Englez” or Englishman. He is a traveller, a current affairs freak and a huge AFC Wimbledon fan.
Email: mark.thomas@dubrovnik-times.com
According to local economic experts, the announced introduction of the Euro as the official currency in Croatia should not increase real estate prices.
Croatia’s entry to the Eurozone is expected inside the next five to seven years, depending on when the government will submit a request for membership in the Eurozone, as well as on further fulfilment of the tasks Croatia is required to complete.
Economic experts emphasize that they do not see how the entry into the Eurozone could affect the real estate prices as they are already quoted in Euros. The effect of such entry is usually reflected in prices that are converted from domestic to Euro prices, for example, by rounding up, which then results in a rise in the cost of living, whilst real estate is already built, sold or purchased in Euros.
Mojca Kufner, the Head of Market Research, Product Development and Marketing Department at Zagreb Nekretnine pointed out that Croatia’s real estate market is already closely related to the Euro.
‘’All sales prices are already quoted in Euros as well as cost-effectiveness analyzes of projects, construction costs, etc. thus, I think that the introduction of the Euro will not significantly affect the real estate market’’, explained Kufner.
It is interesting to note that the neighbouring country of Slovenia marked ten years of the introduction of the Euro on the 1st of January this year. According to data, since 2007, the country recorded an increase in the cost of living by 20 percent, whilst the average salary rose by 30 percent.
Winter is coming and Dubrovnik once again goes into hibernation. From 60 flights a day through the height of the summer season to around 6 flights a day (on a busy day) Dubrovnik Airport shows its seasonal business model. Even though the airport has had a record year, with more than 2 million tourists arriving this year, the winter period is still proving challenging.
This winter period Dubrovnik can expect more flights than before but still way short of impressive. Croatia Airlines will connect the Croatian capital Zagreb to Dubrovnik three times a day as well as Frankfurt. However, flights to the German hub are only twice a week which although important as Frankfurt is a European hub it is still relatively poor.
The only other national airline to fly to Dubrovnik out of the summer season, Turkish Airlines, will connect Dubrovnik with Istanbul four times a week, an increase of one flight over last year. This opens up a hub for Asia and this connection was used mainly by tourists from South Korea last year. In fact, Turkish Airlines are the most co-operative with Dubrovnik’s winter plans, as they will offer a 20 percent discount on all ticket prices during the period of the Dubrovnik Winter Festival. The airlines will create a special promo code for the festival that passengers can add when booking a ticket online.
On the plus side the Spanish, low-cost airline Vueling will this winter fly to two new European destinations. With three flights a week (and sometime four) to Barcelona and two flights a week to Rome Vueling will certainly help to save Dubrovnik’s winter tourism this year. And with prices starting at only 80 Euros for a single to Rome and 60 Euros for Barcelona these flights will be extremely popular.
British Airways will offer a few flights over the Christmas and New Year period, two flights a week from Dubrovnik to Gatwick from the 15th of December until the 8th of January. Before restarting on the 9th of February with two flights a week, on Fridays and Mondays, until the middle of March when they start with their normal summer schedule.
Eurowings, a low cost subsidiary of Lufthansa has announced new flights to all Croatian airports next year.
By the end of this year, Eurowings plans to carry more than 900,000 on flights to and from Croatia, or 60 percent more than last year. However, by introducing new flights next year, the company expects this number to rise to more than 1 million passengers, said representatives of Eurowings at the Eurowings media conference that was held on the 31st of October.
‘’In the next four years Eurowings, as a part of the Lufthansa Group, has big plans for Croatia which is the country with the largest growth rate in our network. Next year we plan to increase our market share in Croatia, but also in Europe, where we are the fastest growing airline and the third in the ‘low cost’ segment’’, commented Markus Leopold, the Regional Manager at Eurowings.
On the day of the conference, Eurowings launched the new all year round flight between Zagreb and Dusseldorf, with additional flights between Rijeka and Cologne and Pula and Dusseldorf that were launched on the 2nd of November. Thus, Eurowings is one of the few airlines to fly all year round to and from Croatia.
‘’We want to extend the tourist season and airline season in Croatia; we see a great potential here. The fact that we are on a good path is confirmed with a large demand for flights, especially for this flight between Dusseldorf and Zagreb and back, which is fully occupied. We also expect cooperation with the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) in joint advertising because we are the only air carrier to operate flights to all Croatian airports, even all year round flights to some of them, thus a support from local partners is more than welcome’’, explained Ivan Oreč, the Network Development Manager and Airport Relations at Eurowings.
In addition, this year Eurowings has carried the largest number of passengers to Zagreb (170,000), then to Dubrovnik, Split, Pula, Zadar, Osijek and Rijeka.
‘’Last year the largest number of passengers were carried to Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. Croatia is in the top ten countries and is a traditionally important market to which we pay full attention’’, concluded Oreč.
Trece Uho (Third Ear) Festival is an annual arts fest held every November in Dubrovnik. For five days every year this festival takes locals and their guests to another country. This year’s pick is Bosnia and Herzegovina, country that is a sort of ‘melting pot’ of cultures and nations, just a boarder away from Croatia. It will be held from November 10th to 15th.
-We want to present this very living and diverse country through its rich history, modern art, gastronomy and cinematography. We will show the links between the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, focusing on the Dubrovnik area with the presentation of the Youth Center, workshops and a panel discussion that will bring a sort of critical view of the past events and inspire us to contemplate future cooperation – organizers stated, adding that the whole programme will be available soon.
All events to this special festival are free and in the last couple of years it took us to Italy, Nordic countries, Japan, Canada, Australia...
-Trece Uho is completely run on volunteer power. Our festival’s mission is to engage our community by promoting volunteering and to invest our time in opportunities for cultural collaboration. Yes, our city is a top touristic destination, however, our aim is to keep vibrant cultural events happening in the very quiet off-season. So, see you in November! – say the organizers on their official website.
Dubrovnik Tourist Board, with the aim of encouraging tourist visits during the winter months, organizes Saturday winter mornings in the City. This is fourth year that they doing this and during the last years it turned out to be a great success.
Every Saturday, starting from November 4th March 31st next year there will be free sightseeings of the old town core with a guide in English, starting at 10 am in front of the Tourist Board Office, at Pile, Brsalje 5. For this free tour, you need to sign up at the office (tel: +38520312011; E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
The offer is intended for individual visitors and does not apply to group arrangements. After visiting the city with a professional guide, at 11.30 am in front of the church of St. Blasius, the Tourist Board of the City of Dubrovnik offers to all visitors the performance of the Folklore Ensemble Lindo, which will not be held only in case of bad weather. This free program will enrich and contribute to a variety of entertainment programs during the winter months.
From the 1st of November a new regulation on waste management came into force meaning that all citizens have to split their household waste and separate it into different waste bins. A three-month trial period has started this new regulation and after this period is over citizens will have sanctions imposed if they fail to comply with the law.
Local authorities now have an obligation to provide citizens with three different garbage containers, from mixed, biodegradable and recycled waste.
In this first three-month trial period local authorities will need to find the best solution for citizens to recycle waste and citizens will need to adapt to the new laws. The Ministry of Environmental Protection has also said that the level of the fine for citizens who do not follow the new regulations needs to be set.
One of the world's largest online hospitality platforms Airbnb has hired a Croatian designer as a director of experience design.
Tin Kadoić, a young Croatian designer, will lead a design team that will develop a user interface and experience at Airbnb.
The Croatian designer has already had a rich career. Among other things, Kadoić worked as a manager in the digital agency Brlog (which was part of the Bruketa & Žinić OM Group) and as an executive creative director at the agency Five in Zagreb.
As far as Airbnb is concerned, it has more than 150 million users and offers 3 million accommodation units around the globe.
This year Airbnb's capacity in Croatia has increased by 59 percent compared to 2016, whilst the largest number of apartments are rented in Split, Zadar, Pula, Korcula and Dubrovnik.
Croatia is still expecting the latest data from Airbnb for this year’s summer season, however, thanks to seasonality, this will surely prove the busiest period of the year.
Airbnb's latest statistics show that on the average guests are exceptionally satisfied with the offer in Croatia rating it with 4,9 out of 5 points. In addition, apartments rated with five points account for 13 percent, whilst 2,800 renters earned the ''superhost'' status.
The first day of November was mild and warm in Dubrovnik with the sea temperature and the air temperature equalising at 19 degrees.
Although Christmas is just around the corner Dubrovnik is still bathing in sunshine and the beaches of the region still had sunbathers and swimmers making the most of the unusually pleasant weather.
Check out our photo gallery from Mlini in Zupa today.