The Croatian National Tourist Board has just released their new advertising campaign for spring. The slogan “Experience Spring in Croatia,” is being used on a dynamic new advert that will be broadcast on many international TV stations, including ORF2, ATV, Eurosport and Discovery channel.

“The focus of promotional activities for the Croatian Tourist Board is certainly the period pre and post season because in those parts of the year we have the most room for growth and improvement,” commented the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board Ratomir Ivicic.
The tourist board will also run the campaign through their social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in an attempt to raise the profile of Croatia as a year round destination. “Croatia is a destination best known for sun and sea and as a result there are almost no problems with occupancy capacity during the main summer months. However, our strategic goal is to bring Croatia closer as a destination delivering potential tourists quality offerings all year round,” added Ivicic.

Check out the latest promo video from the Croatian National Tourist Board

One of the most popular airlines in the UK has added another destionation to Dubrovnik for 2016. easyJet has announced that along with its flights from Stansted Airport in the UK it will also operate flights to Luton Airport to Dubrovnik for this summer season.

The first easyJet flight from Luton to Dubrovnik will begin on the 24th of May 2016 and will then continue on a twice a week basis until the 29th of October 2016.

“Dubrovnik overlooks the waters of the Adriatic; it’s famed for being a walled city with recent UNESCO world heritage status and offers easyJet customers flying from Luton a great summer holiday destination,” commented Neil Slaven, the commercial manager of easyJet.

Tickets are already available to purchase online and start at around 45 Euros for a single ticket. easyJet has announced that they expect to carry around 21,000 passengers on the new Luton to Dubrovnik route. This new route now means that easyJet operates to twelve European destinations from Dubrovnik Airport, including five in the UK.

easyJet now has 52 destinations on sale from London Luton Airport for next summer and bases 19 aircraft at the airport. “We expect Dubrovnik to be extremely popular for those who wish to get some easy and affordable summer sun and explore all it has to offer,” concluded Slaven.

Work has begun on the restoration of the Great Onofrio Fountain in the historic Old City of Dubrovnik. The fountain, which was built in 1438, is currently in the centre of the Star Wars set as has been decorated with futuristic lights. However this didn’t stop the restorers going to work today, firstly by removing the old cement that had been used to patch up the fountain on previous occasions.

“This type of cement is actually quite harmful to the stonework,” explained one of the restorers. “We will slowly cut out all the old cement that has patched up the fountain for years and replace that with a much more suitable solution,” he added. And it certainly looks like being a long and drawn out project. When asked if the Star Wars crew were a hindrance he answered, “They will only be here for around ten days, we will need a lot longer.”

The Star Wars set in Dubrovnik as you have never seen it before. With this latest video released today you can explore the set of Star Wars in Dubrovnik on the Stradun, the main street.

We are on the eve on the filming of the eighth episode of Star Wars being filmed in Dubrovnik, from the 9th to the 16th of March, and the set on the Stradun is pretty much complete. With this new 360° video you can move your view around and get a real feel for the Star Wars action in Dubrovnik.

The Dubrovnik Times always brings you into the centre of the action, check out this amazing video and dont forget to move the arrows aound to get a full view. 

The fifth edition of the Aklapela Festival will take place in Dubrovnik, from the 8th to the 10th of April 2016. Numerous acclaimed vocal groups from all parts of Croatia will perform as a part of the Aklapela festival, a festival that fosters and respects traditional a cappella singing, recognized by the UNESCO as the world intangible cultural heritage. Twelve Croatian klapas, selected by Aklapela's artistic director, dr. JoskoCaleta, will perform at the historical venue Lazareti on the 8th and the 9th of April, while the Festival's final concert will take place on Sunday, 10th of April, at the spectacular venue of St. Dominic’s Church.

On Friday, the 8th of April, the following klapas will perform: Kapric,Luka Rijeka, Orca, Nostalgija, Subrenum and Luka Ploče. The Festival will continue on the 9th of April (Saturday),whenthe performances of the following vocal groups will take place: FA Linđo, Dišpet, Sinj, Kaše, Tragos and Bunari. Traditionally, the Festival ends with the klapa performances on Sunday, the 10th of April, when the groups will perform at the St. Dominic’s Church.

The Aklapela festival is the authentic Croatian musical product that, for the fifth year in a row, enriches the culture tourism of the city of Dubrovnik off the peak season.

In dr. Caleta’s words, 'the Festival is a humble sign of gratitude to all the generations of singers who left their hearts and souls in the klapa singing circles and handed down this tradition to new generation of singers', adding that he believes in preserving this authentic way of Croatian singing, as well as in further development of the Festival in the years to come.

We invite all music lovers and fans of the authentic Croatian klapa singing to join us at this year's fifth Aklapela Festival from the 8th to the 10th of April 2016.

The Dubrovnik Times is proud to be an official media sponsor of this years Aklapela Festival. 

The Dubrovnik Times has teamed up with the radio station Soundset Ragusa to bring you a weekly roundup of all the important information and events in Dubrovnik, the Voice of Dubrovnik's weekly review.

The Voice of Dubrovnik was the first English language information service when it was launched four years ago. The program runs through the summer months, from May to September, and has proved a valuable source of information to guests to Dubrovnik. However for this year The Voice of Dubrovnik has moved into the winter season as well, with the launch of the week in review in January. Every Saturday the Voice of Dubrovnik will broadcast twice a day in a roundup of the week’s events.

Now you can also catch this special program on the website of The Dubrovnik Times with our latest addition, the Voice of Dubrovnik on The Dubrovnik Times. Check out our new banner on the homepage and keep your finger on the pulse of Dubrovnik.

As part of the celebrations on International Women’s Day today, the 8th of March, the City of Dubrovnik have decided that all of the public buses in the Dubrovnik region are free of charge.

Libertas Dubrovnik, the public bus company in the city will operate a free service for all passengers today on the occasion on International Women’s Day.

March opened with rain and it looks like it will end with rain. It has been, and will be a wet month in the region with a south wind bringing rain and high seas. Yesterday in the Old City of Dubrovnik, in spite of the torrential rain, many tourists walked the Stradun and snapped the Star Wars film set.

The forecast for the rest of the week is for improving weather with more stable conditions. The rest of the week shows a ten percent chance of rain with scattered showers and a light southerly wind.

Check out our gallery by Tonci Plazibat