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Although the sales of printed guides have been flourishing with the growth in the number of travelers and an increasing diversification of their interests, modern technologies have implemented numerous changes here. This includes the guide on the mobile phone display, a convenient and comprehensive solution that has been applied in Split, but also offers displays of 157 more destinations in Croatia. All tourists who want to find out where to have a good lunch or a great time at night while visiting the Diocletian’s city can obtain all information via their mobile devices.

They just need to be in Peristil and they will receive the mobiEXPLORE tourist guide via Bluetooth and find out all they want to know. The operation only takes a few minutes and the tourist guide is free of charge. The tourist guide combines exceptionally extensive contents and useful information, which is a sole result of domestic brains. It was conceived by the team of Gideon Multimedia from Split, which began to implement the project in cooperation with the Split Tourist Board. In addition to information about historical and cultural landmarks, local attractions and customs, accommodation capacities, museums, hotels, restaurants and taverns, tourists can also find out what Split offers at night and will receive all information about navigation and sport, location of spa centers, weather forecasts… They are also offered an interactive map with an index of all streets, they can listen to audio guides about the destination’s landmarks, and even learn certain phrases and expressions in Croatian. Beside the complete information about Split, mobiEXPLORE
displays 157 more destinations in Croatia. It is currently available in Croatian and English, and it will soon be released in Italian and probably some other languages. This is a comprehensive and free service, which many developed European countries have expressed interest, so it is about to be implemented in some countries in Europe as well.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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Split won the Silver Flower of Europe award among a competition of almost six thousand candidates from twelve countries in the city category, while Novi Vinodolski has won the same award in the town category. The closing ceremony of the Golden Flower of Europe, arranged every year by the European Association for Flowers and Landscape, was held in Split, which was an additional reason for celebration.

While explaining the award presented to Split, Monika Hetsch, presdietn of the International Jury, pointed out that Split was a beautiful business & university center in Croatia, its beauty enhanced by the Marjan Park Forest. In addition to the positive ratings with respect of its landscape, the members of the International Jury were particularly impressed by the tidiness of Sustipan and Lovrinac. 24 candidates participated in the finals of this selection and Split won a total of 87.6 points out of one hundred. As stated in the explanation, Novi Vinodolski, winner of the Silver Flower in the town category, won the award for its splendid landscaping, commitment to tradition and a successful eco school. Novi Vinodolski has a tourist tradition of 130 years and is the center of the popular Vinodol Riviera having a total capacity of around 8000 accommodation units. This small town is distinctive for its  littoral architecture and its old town core. Around 2 million HRK was spent on landscaping this year. Opposite the historical part of the town are modern tourist facilities – hotels, campingsites, household activities and numerous catering facilities and sport & recreation centers attracting numerous tourists every year.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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The eco/ethno village of Stara Kapela is situated at the foot of Dilj gora, at the border between Brod-Posavina and Požega Slavonia County. Unique for its traditional architecture and the quiet of the old rural lifestyle, the village leaves each guest with the impression of returning a hundred year back to the past. Without cars and mobile phone signal, Stara Kapela offers a different story, free of any rush and stress, in coexistence with nature and traditional values. The village was fully reconstructed in the traditional style and with local materials, elaborated to the tiniest detail. Each house was provided with its former appearance, and the entire road is illuminated with lanterns on wooden poles with wooden plates presenting the words of the greatest Croatian poets.

Thanks to the Eco/Ethno Village Association that initiated the reconstruction of Stara Kapela, most of the old furniture, old tools and various household aids have been purchased, so everyone can evoke the former lifestyle. The village was also provided with 13 kilometers of hiking/biking tracks with six rest stops, while replicas of old ?ardaks are available in four locations. As the area has 120 registered plant species and over 80 bird species, plates with the relevant Croatian and Latin names were mounted across the entire track. The village presently has only 19 residents, but they will soon be accompanied with some new ones because a certain number of abandoned estates have been purchased by artists who will present some of their work in Stara Kapela. The plans for further development of the village provide for an old trade park and a traditional village garden with autochthonous flowers. Stara Kapela strives to become a model hotel village with only eight tourist beds by 2009. 14 beds are currently available for guests in Stara Kapela, and the number should rise to around forty by the end of the year. A souvenir shop has recently been opened, and they will soon start mounting wooden fences around the houses. Such reconstruction requires plenty of time and effort because the aim is to fully restore the village’s appearance of over a hundred years ago, which makes Stara Kapela a true tourist pearl, only 170 kilometers from Zagreb.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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A meeting of the European Federation of Campingsite Organizations and Holiday Park Associations (EFCO & HP), an organization established in 1979 and bringing together around 25 thousand European campingsites and camp resorts, was held in Umag in late September. Such important convention in Croatia, the region of Istria and the tourist destination of Umag is an acknowledgement of the local camping offer providing the guests with holidays in a beautiful and ecologically preserved environment, keeping up with the growing camping services standards. Croatia has a total of around 226 campingsites and 278 private estate campingsites having a total accommodation capcity of 224,000 persons. The private state campingsites account for around 10,000 units. According to the Croatian Camping Union, campingsites account for 23.7 percent of the country’s accommodation capacities and they have an approximately equal share in tourist overnights. Around fifteen campingsites having a total capacity of 22.5 thousand persons are classified as four stars, while
57 campingsites having a capacity of a little over 88 thousand persons are classified as three stars.

High-category (4 and 3 stars) are mainly in Istria, which also has the most numerous camping capacities, followed by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and Zadar County in the third place. Dubrovnik- Neretva County, the southernmost part of Croatia, is the second in the number of four-star campingsites. The Croatian Camping Union evaluated with year’s camping season as successful. According to their estimates, Croatian campingsites had 12.624 million overnights in the first eight months, or 3.2 percent over 2007. Istria, the most developed Croatian camping destination, had 6.825 million overnights, or 3.4 over last year. The average annual campingsite occupancy is 59.1 days, the highest figures achieved in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County – 67.1 days. Of course, the longest stays are achieved in four-star camps – as much as 87 day. The average duration of stay in campingsites is 6.7, with Istria as number one with an average duration of stay of eight days. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Germans are the most numerous campingsite guests, followed by Slovenia, The Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic… Every year, the traditional markets are accompanied with new ones. The Croatian Camping Union plans to present the offer more intensively to such guests.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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The Sea Organ, and the somewhat newer urban installation Greeting to the Sun by architect Nikola Baši?, are two landmarks of the city of Zadar attracting public attention and representing a contemporary addition to the cultural/historical and ambience-related values of this city. Next to the famous Sea Organ on Zadar quay and near the cruiser pier, the Greeting to the Sun by the same architect now shines as well. The Greeting to the Sun consists of three hundred multi-layer glass panels set on the same level as the quay paving, in the form of a circle having a diameter of 22 meters. Beneath the conducting glass panels are photovoltaic solar modules providing symbolic communication with nature for the purpose of communicating – by sound in case of the Sea Organ, and by light in this case. Concurrently with the “most beautiful sunset in the world”, the lighting fixtures built into the circle are activated, producing an exceptionally impressive game of light to the rhythm of the waves and the sound of the Sea Organ according to a preprogrammed scenario.

In daytime, the photovoltaic solar modules absorb solar energy, transform it into electricity and deliver into the voltaic distribution network. The info display reads the current electricity consumption, and the entire system is expected to produce around 46,500 kWh a year. This is actually a small power that will be used both for the Greeting to the Sun installation and the lighting of the entire quay. The energy will be up to three times cheaper that the existing energy, while the project itself is a unique example of combining renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and urban space development. In cooperation with Prof. Maksim Klarin of the Zadar Maritime School, the names of Zadar saints, after which the present and former churches on the Peninsula were named, have been entered into the ring surrounding the
Greeting to the Sun. Each name is accompanied with the declination and height of the Sun and duration of sunlight on the relevant holiday and in that place on the quay. This highlights the connection between Zadar and the Calendar of St. Krševan who made a great contribution to indication of time and astronomic navigation in its very beginnings. As a solar system model with the accompanying planets, the Greeting to the Sun installation is connected with the Sea Organ. This is actually a piece of specifically formed coast in several rows of stairs descending to the sea for around 70 meters in length. Beneath them 35 pipes of different lengths, diameters and inclinations are built into the coast. The pipes contain whistles playing seven accords and five tunes, providing for the music of sea-driven air. Both installations situated on the Zadar quay attract great attention of both the visitors and the professional audience, representing an additional motive to come to Zadar, a city of rich monumental heritage, including among others the Church of St. Donat from the 9thcentury, the most famous medieval basilica and a city trademark.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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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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Over the past few years, the town of Knin and its surrounding area have become an increasingly distinctive tourist destination. In both Croatia and Europe, Knin is promoted as an attractive tourist destination, largely thanks to Krka River springing above Kr?i? Fall near Knin, but also because of Dinara, a mountain having the highest peak in Croatia, and the rich cultural and historical heritage of the Knin region. The preserved nature, the close proximity of the mountains of Dinara and Svilaja, and Krka River provide the visitors with numerous adventure options such as biking, mountaineering, horseback riding, jeep and quad (ATV) rides, fishing, kayaking, rafting… In addition to the sport & recreation offer, the greater Knin areahas a number of attractive tourist features.

The most important and frequented cultural monument complex in the region is the Knin Fort. The construction of the fort began way back in the 9th century, in the times of Croatian national rulers. Over the past few years, new information boards, a fence, benches and a telescope were provided next to the fort. The Knin area also contains one of the most significant old-Croatian archeological sites called Biskupija, and remains of the former large military settlement of Burnum discovered five years ago. Even though Knin is very near the coast, the town tourist board foresees great tourist activity in Knin not just during the summer months but year-round. While summer mostly brings bathers to the Knin region, autumn and spring show all the wealth of the region’s natural beauties, making it ideal for team building and paintball excursions. November and December are reserved for hunters, especially those coming from Italy. The town of Knin announced the upcoming construction of a hotel in the town, while some families announce agrotourism and equestrian facilities on their estates.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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As early as the next season, Dubrovnik could have a virtual museum situated in the historical quarantine of Lazareti. A building permit for renovation of the premises has already been obtained, and the project implementation begins this autumn. The first among the ten boat-halls within Lazareti was designated to be home to the museum at this historical City entrance spot. The impressive complex of Lazareti is located at the east entrance to the city, an ideal place for a new-type City reception. The new virtual museum would make Lazareti an entrance station for most visitors to Dubrovnik, something like the walls.

The virtual museum will rely on the use of several IT technologies, the solutions of which will be used in the making of the exhibits. In the museum, the visitors would be briefly acquainted with the rich heritage and history of the City, as well as the spiritual strength it has had since the 9th century to date. In addition to standard tourists and visitors to Dubrovnik, this virtual museum will be an excellent place for a different way of learning about the City for guests coming from luxury yachts and smaller cruisers. While anchoring will be prohibited for megacruisers between the City and Lokrum, smaller yachts and boats will be allowed to anchor in front of Lokrum and the guests will disembark in front of Lazareti. Beside the cultural tourism that will make its offer larger and more attractive by this virtual museum, Dubrovnik announces the possibility of opening a big congress center in Babin Kuk soon.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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This year, Sibenik-Knin County co-funds 30 projects in tourism with 300 thousand HRK, which will significantly enrich the offer of recreational, cultural and rural tourism in the area. A large number of biking and hiking tracks, quality enhancement
by numerous events and investments in rural estates will enable Šibenik-Knin County to have an increasing number of satisfied tourists of all profiles. Among others, Šibenik-Knin County supports projects that will provide Vodice, Knin and the Municipality of Tisno with newly developed biking tracks, and the Municipality of Tribunj will get a network of biking tracks. The county also provides financial support for development of biking and hiking tracks in Pirovac and the local event called On Foot to the Beauties of Pirovac. Newly developed hiking and biking tracks in the municipalities of Primošten and Kistanje will also enrich the future recreational tourist offer, while the increase in the cultural offer level will be reflected in the co-funding of harmony singing evenings in Sibenik and other events and festivals held mostly in summertime, in addition to the event in Pirovac. The county allocated smaller amounts of money to numerous rural estates that have been turning to rural tourism for renovation and expansion of the existing capacities. In addition to the most popular tourist destinations – Jurlinovi dvori in the village of Drage in Primošten hinterland and the rural estates in Kalpi?i and Dubrava in Tisno hinterland – the tourists will be able to enjoy an improved offer of numerous other estates in the area. A family estate in Skradin will provide a tasting facility for their sweet delicacies prepared from almonds, dates, figs, carobs and other kinds of fruits and vegetables. A family estate in Miljevci Bogaticki has a meat curing plant and plans to improve the surrounding area to provide the guests with a visual pleasure in addition to the gastronomic one. An estate in Ružic will begin to build swimming pools and bathroom facilities.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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Wine is an inevitable part of Istria’s identity, and the wine roads are an organic part of the tourist offer. They are the first selective tourist project and the first one that does not relate to the sea and beaches. Representing a dynamically developing process of a traditional, cultural, economic and tourist nature, they receive over 130 thousand visitors a year. There are presently six wine roads in the Istrian region: in the areas of Buje, Porec, Buzet, Pazin, Rovinj, Vodnjan and Labin, including 88 itineraries/stations. Renowned winemakers are involved in the wine road project, striving to present their wines in an appropriate manner. The visitors first see the vineyards, then take a tour of the cellars where they are told about grape processing and wine keeping, and finally taste the products. Many winemakers grow their own olives and make prosciutto, pickled mushrooms and other products, including them in their offer. Numerous visitors choose to buy wine because it is much cheaper in the cellars than restaurants or stores. Both winemakers and their guests agree that a wine itinerary can be just as exciting as visiting a museum, a basilica or an important sporting event. Wine roads were a predecessor of agrotourism in Istria’s interior. Today, the county and the county tourist board support wine roads, especially their promotion. Wine roads contribute to human engagement in the preservation and reconstruction of the original ambient and traditional legacies, thus enriching the tourist product. In addition, the people of Istria have realized they generate loyal guests who come back not just during the season but in preseason and postseason, providing each winemaker with the opportunity to promote their wine and other products.

Source: press.croatia.hr

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