The Croatian Ministry of Tourism announced on Sunday that the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global private travel and tourism sector, has given Croatia a special destination for safe travel, created in May this year.

The label allows the identification of destinations and companies around the world that have adopted global health and hygiene standards, the statement said.

"As a popular European and Mediterranean destination, we strive to face all difficulties and ensure stability and security for the local population and all travellers who decided to visit us this year, despite the current circumstances. To enable the 'new normal', we have prepared the necessary safety protocols and measures to make the stay of tourists in our country as pleasant as possible and to protect the health of all tourists," commented the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Nikolina Brnjac.

In addition to Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Ukraine and Turkey have received the WTTC safety label in Europe, and 22 other countries and numerous cities and regions, the Ministry of Tourism said in a statement.

Brnjac states that Croatia is proud to cooperate with the WTTC in these difficult times for all stakeholders in the tourism industry. She believes that compliance with WTTC global protocols will be the next important step in securing and stabilizing not only the current season, but will also be an important step for the sustainable and smart future development of this very important economic sector.

Institutions of WTTC member states and associations in the tourism industry have the role of safe travel ambassadors to all stakeholders in the tourism industry, such as hotels, restaurants, airlines, tour operators, rent-a-car, transport companies, airports and similarly, they provide a framework for the implementation of safe travel protocols.

All those who meet the defined WTTC protocols on health and hygiene will be able to apply for and obtain this international label.

As part of the safe travel protocol, international measures provide consistency and guidance to tourism service providers and tourists in a new approach to health, hygiene, maintaining social distance and more in the “new normal” circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The protocols are designed based on the experience of WTTC members in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and based on guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).