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
The statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat) published a report from which it's clear that Croatia, Slovenia and Latvia had the biggest increase when it comes to the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation last year.
-In 2017, the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the European Union (EU) is expected to have reached more than 3.2 billion, up by 5.1% compared with 2016. Since 2009, there has been a steady increase in the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments in the EU, notably driven by the rise in the nights spent by non-residents of the country visited – reports Eurostat.
Last year was great for Spain that stayed in the tourism lead with 471 million overnight stays, which is an increase of 3.6 percent compared to 2016. Following countries are France, Italy and Germany.
The number of nights spent in tourist accommodation in 2017 grew in nearly all countries that are members of European Union and for which data are available, with the largest increases being observed in Latvia (+12.0%), Slovenia (+11.3%) and Croatia (+10.6), followed by Portugal (+8.0%), the Czech Republic (+7.7%) and Cyprus (+7.3%). In contrast, the only slight fall was registered in Luxembourg (-1.0%, equivalent to 28 thousand nights) – Eurostat reports.
Just a reminder, in the lastest report of the Croatian Tourist Board, it was claimed that 2017 will be remembered as a historical year for Croatian tourism and when it comes to overnight stays, as top destinations were listed Dubrovnik, Rovinj, Porec, Medulin and Umag.
The Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) has attended the largest Travel Show in Asia-Pacific, OTM in Mumbai in India for the first time.
As stated by HTZ, the organizer of the fair recognized the positive marketing step forward of Croatia on the large Indian market and awarded Croatia in the category ‘’Most promising new destination’’, i.e. the most attractive new destination.
Apart from numerous business people and tour operator representatives working on the Indian subcontinent who attended the fair, the Indian Minister of Tourism Jaykumar Rawal paid a visit to the Croatian exhibition stand and spoke with representatives of the Croatian tourism sector.
The tourist fair OTM represents an excellent opportunity for meetings and the development of long-term business relationships.
Around 1,300 exhibitors from 60 world countries attended the fair, whilst along with HTZ, the tourist boards of the City of Zagreb, the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and the Zadar County also presented their offer.
In 2017, more than 56,000 arrivals and 128,000 overnight stays were realized from the Indian market, or 65 percent more in arrivals and 60 percent more in overnight stays in comparison to 2016.
According to data from the National Financial Agency (FINA), at the end of November last year, there were 322,783 Croatian citizens with blocked accounts, whilst their debt amounted almost 43 billion Kunas or more precisely, 42,80 billion.
The highest number of debtors was recorded in the Croatian capital of Zagreb (62,316) or 11,60 percent of working-age population, with debt of 12,36 billion Kunas.
In the Split-Dalmatia County, 30,160 citizens with debt of slightly over 3,9 billion Kunas were blocked, with the share of blocked citizens in the number of working-age population being 9,89 percent.
The smallest number of blocked citizens was recorded in the Lika-Senj County (2,887) with debt of 289,7 million Kunas or 9,19 percent share in the working-age population of the county.
The Croatian cities of Zagreb (62,316), Split (11,972), Rijeka (10,210), Osijek (8,539) and Zadar (5,261) are topping the list of the 25 cities with the highest number of blocked citizens.
At the bottom end of this list are Dugo Selo (1,979), Đakovo (2,253) and Koprivnica (2,265) with the smallest number of citizens with blocked accounts.
At the congress fair "Conventa 2018" held in Ljubljana from January 23rd to 25th, the Kongres Magazine gave Dubrovnik a "Meeting Star Award" in the category of destination that can accommodate up to 1,200 congress participants.
Gorazd Cad, Editor-in-Chief of the Kongres Magazine and co-founder of "Conventa", presented this amazing award to the Tourist Board Director, Romana Vlasic, and emphasized that interest in Dubrovnik is increasing every year. It was also pointed out that this year's Conventa has hosted the largest number of buyers so far, especially from the United States, which also have a great interest for Dubrovnik, one of the leading international destinations in South East Europe.
Prizes were awarded in four categories - Vienna, Ljubljana and Kranjska gora were awarded in the other three.
The Kongres Magazine is one of the leading media in the congress industry. It brings knowledge of top world experts about organizing meetings. The great number of 4,000 meetings is expected to take place at the fair, attended by the Dubrovnik Tourist Board.
One of the first things that pops into your head when you think about Dubrovnik is probably magnificent stone walls. Proud monuments that have secured the livelihood of the city, in more ways than one, over the centuries. One tiny, although not irrelevant, section of these ancient walls has recently been repaired and the results have brought a number of shocked and angry reactions. The wailing wall of Dubrovnik or Dubrovnik’s wall of shame or the future site of dozens of adverts for restaurants?
Behind the Dubrovnik Cathedral a supporting wall has been reconstructed and the results have enraged many citizens. “The wall needed repairing because it was in terrible condition, but in a stone city the wall should be repaired with stone,” commented one local citizen. Whilst another local commented, “Who supervised this and who gave it them permission to do this?”
The answer as to who gave permission for the restoration of this wall came from the Dubrovnik Restoration Institute. After numerous inquiries from media outlets in Dubrovnik they answered the following, so as they say, to make sure that the public were well informed. Here is their answer, make your own conclusions.
- The Conservation Department in Dubrovnik asked in written form to the City of Dubrovnik to repair the wall behind the cathedral. The wall was statically in very poor condition with visible cracks. The plaster had mostly fallen off the wall, so it might be possible to get the wrong impression that the wall was initially stone. The type of material from which the stone and bricks were built were originally plastered. During the repair, the wall was first disintegrated, then statically reinforced, and then re-fitted with the same material (stone and brick). The gravel and the composition of the material wall remained the same. The project for which the restoration was carried out has received all the necessary consents from the conservators who have been involved in all segments of restoration since the beginning. The final layer is antique lime-free plaster without cement plaster whose tone and manner of processing have been determined by conservators – writes the Principal of the Dubrovnik Restoration Institute Iva Carević Peković.
Before
After
The average unemployment rate in Croatia throughout 2017 was recorded at 12.4 percent, which is the lowest ever level since data was been kept.
The labour market is extremely seasonal, with the tourist industry a main factor that the summer registered unemployment rate was at around 10 percent last year, and then as the winter approaches the rate slowly rises again. In fact during the tourist season the tourism industry of Croatia has a shortfall of workers.
Last year the average registered unemployment rate, at 12.4 percent, was the lowest since 2000 when records started to be kept. And the indicators this year according to economic experts is that the level will continue to fall. The positive annual trend in the movement of the registered unemployment rate in 2018 is expected to continue, given the positive macroeconomic trends.
However, there are some black clouds in the rosy unemployment figures, which show a trend towards short-term contracts and seasonal work. Last year 35 percent of the people who left the registered unemployment list went to work in outsourcing, rather than full-time contracts or even part-time ones.
British American Tobacco (BAT), which took over the Croatian company Rovinj tobacco factory, is planning to increase its investments into Croatia this year, reports Poslovni.hr.
The Adria region, which is controlled through the Croatian offices, was expanded last October to include five neighbouring markets, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. The Adria region, together with the markets of Bulgaria and Romania, will become part of the new BAT organization in South and Central Europe (SCEA).
BAT has announced that in Croatia this year they will invest 40 million Euros. Around 80 percent of all the tobacco products produced by BAT in Croatia are exported and the plan is to increase it to over 90%, along with an increase in production. BAT currently employs 1,650 workers in its operations in Croatia.
A spectacular video of the ancient Old City of Dubrovnik has been published and shows unique views of the UNESCO World Heritage City.
With the poignant headline “This isn’t Nottingham or King’s Landing – this is the only and only Dubrovnik,” the LMT Studio from Dubrovnik have produced another gem of a promotion for the city. Soaring aerial shots, proud stone facades and panoramic views over the sea of terracotta roofs.
Check out this stunning video