The Town of Ðurdevac will represent Croatia in the European Destination of Excellence competition to be held 18 and 19 September in Bordeaux, France.
Ðurdevac won the right to participate in a very tough competition of 27 candidates in Croatia, among which the Committee of Croatia National Tourist Board Head Office selected the national winner according to the criteria set for the project.

The European Destination of Excellence competition has been held since 2006, involving all European Union Member States. Although Croatia is not an EU member, it has been invited to join, so it has been involved in the action from the beginning.

This year it is organized on the subject of “Tourism and Local Intangible Heritage”.

Popular for its various cultural, sport and other attractive events such as Podravina From Summer to Summer, Mamas Baked Some Štrukli, Welcome Friends, and more,  Ðurdevac is particularly distinctive for its Legend of the Roosters (Picoki). The traditional cultural & entertainment event, which has been organized for forty years, illustrates the historical and traditional heritage of the region, and this attractive tourist product main tains the legend of the locals’ craftiness in this part of Koprivnica-Križevci County.

The Croatian Ministry of Culture has proclaimed the Legend of the Roosters intangible cultural domain. The legend is associated with an old story about a long siege of Ulama-Beg’s Ottoman army and his intention to force the people of Ðurdevac captured in the Old Town to surrender due to hunger. However, following the advice of an old lady, the defenders outwitted the Beg by firing their last rooster out of a cannon into the Ottoman camp, thus creating the impression they had food to waste. Believing they had plenty of food, Ulama-Beg retreated with his army and the people of Ðurdevac have been referred to as the Roosters ever since.
Numerous visitors to Ðurdevac do not come here just for the legend, but for various other facilities making the region popular because the area contains famous hunting grounds and the Naive Painting road passes here as this is the region where Naive Painting was conceived.
Ðurdevac has an art gallery containing paintings donated by the famous Croatian Naive painter Lackovic Croata, whose works have been exhibited in many galleries around the world, and the area also has 45 kilometers of bike tracks, very popular with visitors and local alike..

Ðurdevac Tourist Board : www.tz-djurdjevac.hr

The Summer Pavilion has opened its doors for the second season running with Your Black Horizon at the beginning of May, a joint work by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson and David Adjay, a London architect.

The unique lighting installation for Your black horizon in the Art Pavilion was commissioned for the first time by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (T-B A21) Foundation and ceremonially presented with great success to critics and the public as part of the official 51st Biennial Fine Art program held in Venice in 2005, and during the 10th Biennial of Architecture also held in Venice in 2006.

The Pavilion combines art and architecture into one, and its uniqueness lies primarily in its adaptation to the specific location and environment. In setting up the exhibit on Lopud, the artist Olafur Eliasson, adapted the internal lighting installation of the Pavilion to the conditions of lighting on Lopud.

The Pavillion will remain open until end of October.
More info: www.tba21-croatia.org

The organisation committee has announced that this year’s Pride is to be closely monitored by international human right organisations and European institutions.

The Zagreb Pride march will be held on Saturday, June 28, followed by a rock concert.

Read about Gay Croatia

With over a thousand islands, islets and reefs, of which 66 are inhabited, the Croatian islands offer everything from nudist beaches to windsurfing, and organic wines to all-night dance parties. You can bed down in a boutique hotel or a back-to-basics cottage (no running water, no mains electricity), depending on your pain threshold. It’s also outside the eurozone so your holiday cash will go a bit further.

1 - Best for local food and wine: Vis - A Yugoslav military naval base and no-go zone for foreigners until 1989, Vis was invaded by yachties the moment the last submarine left. Now a hippy-chic summer hideaway, its informal konobe (taverns) serve Dalmatian seafood dishes. At Mola Trovna, Senko Karuza takes guests on fishing trips then shows you how to clean and cook your catch. Don’t miss Vis’s organic wines - white Vugava and red Mali Plavac - and rogacica, a potent tipple made from carob, which grows in abundance here…

Read the whole article here + find out about all other Croatian Islands

After the extensive renovation, worth over 40 milion Euro, the largest hotel in Hvar, Hotel Amfora, renamed to Amfora Grand Beach Resort, has received its first guests.

The newly refurbished luxury hotel Amfora Grand Beach Resort now features a exciting cascading pool area surrounded by beautifully groomed gardens, a Sensori Spa wellness center, as well as the romantic new Sunset Restaurant, state-of-the-art conference facility, latest video and audio equipment, wireless interent, full disabled access, which all makes it ideal for family vacations, team building and large conferences.

Amfora, Hvar’s grand beach resort, conference and wellness centre is tucked into a tranquil bay, surrounded by a lush pine grove, and only a short ten-minute walk from the historic town of Hvar. 

Click to see more photos and Hotel Amfora booking info

Zagreb is offering the Zagreb Time Machine event once again this year each weekend starting from now until September 27th at the Zrinjevac park, the central square in Zagreb Donji Grad and the Zagreb Upper Town. 

Those visiting will be able to sample the life as it was once and the foods that were prepared.

Concerts will be held on Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Zrinjevac pavilion.

Click to see some Zagreb photos & check more info about Croatian capital - Zagreb

Dash 8-Q400 aircraft will replace the existing fleet of short-range planes of the Croatian air carrier.

The delivery was made under an agreement Croatia Airlines signed with Bombardier Aerospace on 31 May 2007.

The delivery of the next Dash 8-Q400 is expected in a month’s time.

Currently, the Croatia Airlines fleet consists of 11 planes - four Airbus A319, four Airbus A320, two ATR42 and one Dash 8-Q400. (source Hina)

More about Flights and Airports of Croatia

The exhibition ‘Welcome – Contemporary Art from Croatia’ opens at Reykjavík Arts Festival
on 16th May at the Gallery 100° presenting Croatian contemporary artists Tanja Dabo, Sinisa Labrovic, Antun Maracic, Toni Mestrovic and Slaven Tolj.

Slaven Tolj and Sinisa Labrovic will perform during the opening ceremony today at 6pm.

The exhibition explores current national themes and attempts to dissolve stereotypes about a country that has become increasingly identified as a tourist destination.

The exhibition is organized by Radmila-Iva Jankovic and JBK Ransu, in collaboration with The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik Energy, Reykjavik Arts Festival, Croatian Ministry of Culture, City of Dubrovnik and Art radionica Lazareti in Dubrovnik.

More info about exhibition at its webpage

Pula Airport has also started to welcome flights from the German cities of Dresden, Leipzig, Rostock, Berlin and Erfurt, as well as Paris, France.

In May, Pula Airport will have direct flights to Cologne, Amsterdam, Moscow, Newcastle, Eindhoven, Bordeaux, Nantes, Manchester and Edinburgh, while flights to Stockholm and Yekaterinburg will be available from early June.

At the end of that month, flights for Belgrade, Copenhagen, Göteborg, Kiev, Barcelona and Madrid will be introduced, enabling tourists from many European cities to arrive quickly in the middle of the Istrian peninsula.

Pula Airport is only a few minutes by car from the center of the Pula town that has existed for three millennia and represents a treasury of cultural wealth. With its distinctive Arena, which transforms into a stage for culture & entertainment, and its numerous cultural monuments, Pula has obtained the status of a cultural tourism destination.  Istria tourist facilities are situated in the abundant forests along the sea, with magnificent beaches stretching for a hundred kilometers. Modern roads will quickly take you from Pula to any other tourist destination on the coast or in Croatia’s interior.

If you happened to be in Zagreb sometime before 25th of May, try not to miss ZGRAF  - an international triennial exhibition of graphic design and visual communications that is held in Zagreb since 1975.

The venue of the exhibition is at Dom hrvatskih likovnih umjetnika (a popular ‘Dzamija’ - the circular building in the very centre of Zagreb’s downtown ) at Trg hrvatskih velikana square.

The exhibition, opened on 6th of May is organised by the ULUPUH, the Croatian Association of Artists of Applied Arts. Throughout the years ZGRAF exhibitions have gathered designers, theoreticians and critics in order to discuss essential design issues and design status in contemporary society.

Here are some photos from the exhibition:

See more info about this exhibition at ZGRAF website

The first ferry will sail between Vabiska on the Island of Krk and Merag on the Island of Cres, transporting up to 170 vehicles.

The second ferry will operate between Split and Supetar on the Island of Brac, transporting up to 196 vehicles, while the third ferry having a capacity of 170 vehicles will sail from Split to Vela Luka on the Island of Korcula proceeding to the Island of Lastovo.

The other ferries that have transported passengers and vehicles between these points will be reassigned, so the Cres ferry will now sail between Brestova and Porozina on the Island of Cres, and the Supetar ferry will operate between Prizna and Žigljen on the Island of Pag.

The introduction of three new vessels in ferry traffic will enable decommissioning of four old ferries: Božava, Nehaj, Lovrijenac and Borik. This will significantly increase the safety of sailing, as well as the quality of ferry transport along Croatian Coast.

In 2007 Jadrolinija transported 9.32 million passengers and 2.41 million vehicles, which is 4 and 6 % increase in comparison with 2006.

CroTour 2008 - the International Tourism Fair has been staged last week in Zagreb Fairs venue, Zagreb ,  with 161 participants from 20 countries being involved.

Also, the 14th Vinovita International Fair of Wine and Equipment for Viticulture and Viniculture has been staged at the same venue with some 109 exhibitors form Croatia and nine other countries.

Above photo - advertising banner in Zagreb’s street.

The increase has already been approved by the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure.

Residents of Croatian Islands will continue to have benefit of free transport for students and pensioners as well as the transport of personal and company vehicles which will be subject to vignettes.

The proceeds of this year’s event will go towards funding young athletes.

The winner was the Kenyan marathon runner Issak Tanui. 

After the event, participants were treated to a huge omelette made with proscuitto and asparagus, locally called a fritaja. More info and photos here

Almost 5,000 tourists landed in Gruz for a sightseeing tour organised by a cruise liner, which temporarily blocked access to the Stradun, the towns main promenade,  freaking up locals and tourists as last year.

A total of 215,025 tourists from the U.S.A. and Canada visited Croatia in 2007, which was an increase by 17 percent as compared with 2006.

As forecasted by Nena Komarica, the head of the office of the Croatian Tourist Board in New York, an increase by up to 10 % is expected this year, despite the economic crisis in the USA, a weak dollar, higher prices of oil, and the announced recession. 

 Jadrolinija, the Croatian ferry company has published the summer timetable for local ferries around Croatian coast.

The summer timetable is pretty similar as last year’s one, with only minor changes.

Please note, Jadrolinija is not the only ferry company in Croatia that runs local ferries - to find out other Croatia ferry links check our Ferries in Croatia page.

All freshly published timetables are at Jadrolinija’s page www.jadrolinija.hr/default.aspx?dpid=1632

The new ferry line, which will be a seasonal one, already got approval from Croatian authorities and is now in process of obtaining accreditation of concession.

In the summer months, roads in area around Pula are getting very buzy with daily traffic jams and lack of parking places, so it is expected the new ferry line will improve traffic conditions around Pula as well as in the whole Istria. Check Istria Map for location of Pula, Fazana (Brijuni) and Rovinj.

For all future updates on this and other Croatia ferry lines, stay tune here at Croatia Ferry News

Centralwings, a low-cost offshoot of the Polish state airline, LOT,  established in 2004, is beginning to fly from Krakow (Poland)  to Dubrovnik  on 10 June 2008.
Between 10th of June and 28th of September, the flights from Krakow to Dubrovnik wil depart every Tuesday at 9.45 am arriving at Dubrovnik Airport at 11.15am.
Return flights from Dubrovnik to Krakow will be on the same days, departing at 12.00 pm arriving in Krakow at 13.30 pm. Prices of flights are advertised as from 39,99 EUR gross.
Book directly from Centralwings website

In brief, the statistics shows that tourists visiting Croatia last year have spent 55 Euro per day which is increase of 6 euros in comparison with spending in 2004. The 68 percent  of this figure is spend on accommodation and food.

The very slight increase in spending is interpreted as the result of the quality of the services improving, particularly accommodation.

Tourists from Great Britain spent the most - about 108 euros per day, followed by Russians and the French.

If you can read Croatian, download pdf file of this report at this link

They also reported that the ordeal the 150 passengers of the Zagreb Friday afternoon flight to London began after the flight was initially postponed for Saturday at 8 o’clock in the morning, but in the end the actual flight took place 3 p.m., nearly 24 hours after it should have taken off.

It has been also said that WizzAir officials made no attempt to contact the stranded passengers and the company did not even offer to pay for their hotel accommodation, as according to WizzAir rules, passengers have such rights once the flight is delayed by more than seven hours…

Click to read the complete article on WizzAir flight cancellation at CroatiaPress

If you want to get away from the central Med entirely, try Vis (crowdfactor 74), an hour and a half from Split (Croatia) by hydrofoil. Wild and mountainous, with fine views, Vis is known for producing good wine and is an easy base from which to visit the beautiful blue sea cave on the neighbouring island of Bisevo. Another easy half-hour hop from Split is Solta (crowdfactor 55), a wooded island with many fine beaches, famous for its honey, mulberries, olives and rosemary…

… Working down the crowdfactor list to the quiet islands, we return to Croatia. Sipan is by far the most peaceful of the Elafiti islands, with a crowdfactor of just 46, with walks through hills clad in pine and cypress, and plains growing oranges, vines and olives. Sipan’s quiet beaches are just an hour from Dubrovnik by ferry…

… While Greece gets the most entries, we return to Croatia to find the quietest islands in the Med. Mljet (crowdfactor 24) is a beautifully forested place, the west end of which is a national park, a hub for bikers and walkers. It’s famed for its great fish, cheese and wine but wild mongooses have also put this small island on the map – they were originally introduced to reduce the large resident snake population. Mljet is 90 minutes from Dubrovnik by hydrofoil.

Sveti Klement (crowdfactor 11) is perfect for families, a green island with a hotel resort and a marina. There are no cars here but plenty of water sports including fishing and diving. The food is delicious, especially shellfish and fresh vegetables that are grown on the island. Sveti Klement has magnificent botanical gardens and many beaches and coves, and it’s only 20 minutes from the popular central Dalmatian island of Hvar by boat.

The award for the quietest island in the Mediterranean goes to Scedro (crowdfactor 1), half an hour by boat from Hvar. This island has an area of just eight square kilometres and has just one place to stay: a rental house (it sleeps 10) in a tiny settlement that encompasses the remains of a Dominican monastery. There’s not much to do here, but that’s entirely the point. Take a wander through the island’s wild landscape, vineyards or olive groves and you’ll be about ready to hit the beach. Link to article

‘Once again the addition of Croatia to our summer network provides more opportunities to our partners and offers exciting vacation experiences for travelers. These flights represent the most direct and fastest routing from anywhere in North America,’ said Rob Giguere, President and COO of Skyservice Airlines. “Early on-line bookings through www.skyservice.com are a clear indication that Croatia is a popular choice for travelers seeking a gateway to Eastern Europe for passengers and a new European getaway for Canadians visiting friends and relatives in the region.”

Skyservice Flight 858 will depart Toronto every Wednesday at 22:45 arriving in Zagreb Airport at 15:00.
The return, Flight 859 will depart Zagreb Airport every Thursday at 19:00 arriving in Toronto at 00:34.

Rob Giguere emphasized that Skyservice has operated charter flights to several points in Europe for over 10 years and commenced seasonal scheduled service to Zagreb in 2007. This scheduled service will complement the existing range of services offered by the carrier.

“We shall continue to work with our partners in support of their all-inclusive products that are already in the marketplace,” he said. “Additionally, we are looking forward to developing new relationships with members of the travel industry who focus on Eastern European travel.”

Operating with Boeing aircraft it will feature Skyservice’s renowned in-flight service, including hot meals and in-flight entertainment.

In addition to the above mentioned point, Skyservice will operate scheduled service to Portugal and Italy this summer.

Interested members of the Travel Industry should contact Skyservice Airlines directly at 1-866-571-0094 or please refer to our website at www.skyservice.com

Following the reconstruction of Hotel Riviera in Porec  - Istria, that began in early February, this oldest hotel in town located in the historical town core, will be renamed to Hotel Palazzo and will completely change its appearance.

The old part of the hotel, which cannot be modified for its architectural value, will remain unchanged, with two new wings to be added giving it a touch of modern style.

The new Hotel Palazzo will have a total of 70 rooms and four presidential suites – the smallest will have an area of 85 square meters, and the largest as much as 400 square meters.  Around 5 million euros is to be invested.

Surrounded by the sea on three sides, the attractive hotel will have an outdoor swimming pool with seawater available all year long, a beauty salon, an extensive wellness and fitness offer, a night club, a premium restaurant and more..

The new hotel building, offering a high four-star service, should get its exterior contours by the beginning of this year’s summer season. However it is unlikely it will be able to receive its first guests by that time.

Porec Town Tourist Board  www.istra.com/porec