:: Croatia Blog ::

Like elsewhere in Europe, a network of modern roads in Croatia has provided its citizens and tourists with speed of travel, but also deprived them of the pleasure of observing the environment, an interesting and eventful pause and a kind of an insight to the local lifestyle while approaching the destination. Since the Zagreb-Rijeka motorway has been built, the former main road that passed through areas of exceptional natural beauty has been neglected until someone came up with the idea for a project to include it in the network of European cultural and tourist routes, which was supported by the Ministry of Tourism.

The project concerns two roads of great historical significance. The Carolina Road was built in the first half of the 18th century and was named after Emperor Carl. However, due to the small capacity and great inclines, it was replaced in the early 19th century by the Louisiana Road, one of the most modern roads in the former monarchy. Now that the motorway has been built, both roads have lost their original function, but they are faced with an interesting tourist future, preceded by  the Summer on Louisiana and Carolina event. The project was launched by the Louisiana Association of Delnice, and its members’ effort is focused on revitalization of undeveloped and abandoned rural parts within the broader area surrounding
the roads and inclusion of traditional and natural heritage in the tourist offer. This year’s Summer on Louisiana and Carolina event was held in late June and featured folklore and ethno troupes, presentations of old crafts and customs, etc. This was an opportunity for promotion of an occasional stamp marking the bicentennial of the construction of the Louisiana Road. The promotion was accompanied with the staging of a postal carriage and its crew dressed in historical uniforms. This event in June marks the beginning of the project that will restore the former importance of Carolina and Louisiana and enable the tourists to enjoy themselves while traveling.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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Hotel Aurora, operating within Jadranka Hoteli, a member of Jadranka concern of Mali Losinj, was provided with four stars and new facilities following its reconstruction. The hotel has almost 400 accommodation units, including those adapted to the disabled. In addition to thorough renovations of all areas within the reconstruction process, the hotel was also provided with a wellness center on two levels and a multipurpose congress hall seating 400 people, as well as a conference hall.

The reconstruction of Hotel Aurora is the first stage of the comprehensive project for reconstruction of accommodation facilities within Jadranka Hoteli. Reconstruction of Hotel Vespera will begin in October of this year and reconstruction of Hotel Punta will begin in the autumn of 2009, which will be followed by demolition of the present Hotel Helios and construction of a new one under the same name. The plan also provides for reconstruction of Hotel Alhambra. The entire project should be completed by 2012, and the total value of the investment, including substantial investment in HR training and scholarships, will amount to 80 million euros, 24.4 million euros of which will be invested by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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By the end of the year four new low cost air carriers will open flights to Pula Airport. These are the German companies Germanwings and TUIfly, the Hungarian air carrier Wizzair and the Danish Sterling. Direct connections to Pula are currently maintained by three low cost air carriers that operate during the peak tourist season – the Irish company Ryanair which links Pula to London and Dublin, Norwegian Air Shuttle and the Scottish Fly Globespan. These three companies will run their last flights to Pula in this season at the end of October.

The airport – at which tourists whose destinations are located across all of Istra – is only a few kilometres from the town of Pula, into whose historical edifices and cultural monuments three thousand years of history have been built.

With its recognisable antiquity period amphitheatre, the sixth largest in the world, which plays host to numerous cultural events and performances by artists from around the world, Pula has found its place among interesting cultural destinations. In the direct vicinity of the town are the Brijuni islands with their national park, only three kilometres from the mainland coast. Distinct by its specific types of flora and fauna, and archaeological excavations that bear witness to the settlement of ancient civilisations, Brijuni National Park is also the site of top class cultural and sports events, congresses and meetings. Near Pula, that has fast road connections to all the towns of the Istrian peninsula, there are also other attractive tourist destinations interesting at any time of the year.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

Croatia Airlines, the national air carrier, has declared the quality of traffic effectiveness this August the best in its 16-year history.

In August, namely, the company‘s airplanes carried over 270 thousand passengers, which is a record number of passengers for one month since the launch of commercial flight services in 1991 and up 8 percent from August of last year. This is not the end of the spate of records though – August also saw a record filling of the passenger cabin, which amounted to 75.9 percent and record filling of the passenger cabin in regular international traffic that amounted to 77.8 percent.

From the beginning of the year to the end of August the Croatia Airlines fleet – which includes eleven airplanes (four Airbus A319‘s, four Airbus A320‘s and three ATR 42‘s) transported a total of 1.138 million passengers, up 8 percent from the same period last year.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?