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A 250-million-kuna Valamar Isabella Island Resort, built on the small traffic-free island of Sveti Nikola (Saint Nicholas), off the Istrian town of Porec, was formally inaugurated on Tuesday evening with Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin and some 300 prominent guests attending the inauguration ceremony. The four-star resort has been refurbished for two years, and the works have also included the construction of new infrastructure and renovation of the old hotel Fortuna and the nearby castle Isabella built 120 years ago. The accommodation capacity of the resort includes 334 rooms and suites for some 800 guests, wellness facilities, sports fields and playgrounds, a smart pool area and other amenities. The resort employs 250 people.

United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said on Friday the two-day 100th session of the UNWTO Executive Council in Rovinj, which brought together 200 tourism officials and experts from around the world, had been the best UNWTO session ever. Speaking at the final press conference of the event, he said the organisation had been at the highest level, thanking Croatian Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin for that. Croatia has a strong tourism image, it's already a brand, and everyone from the world who came to Rovinj is absolutely satisfied and especially impressed by the people, the kindness, the culture, the service and the rest, Rifai said. He said the session discussed all important UNWTO activities for this year and the next, such as the organisation's budget, the code of ethics in tourism with an emphasis on the protection of children from violence, access to tourism for everyone, seasonality and ways of dealing with it, and a sharing economy, which is increasingly present in tourism. Rifai voiced confidence that foreign tourist arrivals and spending this year would grow 3-5% in comparison to the record year 2014, when more than 1.1 billion tourists travelled around the world, spending close to US$ 1,500 billion.