News

Ultra Europe is set to return for its third year in Split, Croatia, and promises to build on its first two years to become even bigger and better. Organisers expect more than 180,000 partygoers from over 140 countries to attend the festival. The event will kick off with an Opening Party at the brand new Giraffage Palm Beach Club in Split. The party will then move to the main event from July 10-12, where over 180,000 fans are expected to flock to the impressive Poljud Stadium in Split to witness some of dance music’s most in-demand acts, including Afrojack, Alesso, Armin van Buuren, Axwell and Ingrosso, Carl Cox, The Chemical Brothers (Live), David Guetta, Hardwell, Knife Party, Martin Garrix, Nicky Romero, Steve Angello, Tiësto and Zedd. Following the festivities in Split, ULTRA Europe will then launch a one-off Yacht Regatta on July 13, which will transform Zlatini Rat Beach on the island of Brac into one of the coolest parties in Croatia this year.

The privatisation of Hoteli Plat in Dubrovnik has been completed, the new owner of a 92.49% interest in the company is Karisma Hotels Adriatic (KHA) Cetiri d.o.o., it was said at a news conference at the Tourism Ministry on Thursday. The head of the State Property Management Office (DUUDI), Mladen Pejnovic, told reporters that the hotel complex had been sold at a price of HRK 118 million, 18% more than the initial price. KHA Cetiri is a company consisting of the Croatian food concern Agrokor, the Mexican hotel chain Karisma and TUI, one of the world's leading tour-operators. Addressing the news conference, Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin said that at its next session the government was expected to make a decision on publishing a tender for binding offers for the purchase of the former military hotel complex Kupari.

Croatia has been ranked 33rd out of 141 countries in the World Economic Forum's "Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015", the National Competitiveness Council (NVK) said on Wednesday. The most competitive countries are Spain, France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Japan and Canada, says the report whose theme is "Growing through Shocks" and which underscores the adjustment of the tourism industry to new trends in job creation and economic growth. Croatia improved its position from previous reports by two places. Tourism is one of the most competitive sectors of the Croatian economy, as confirmed by the report, and the ranking justifies further investment and development, said NVK president Ivica Mudrinic. Of Croatia's neighbours, Slovenia was ranked 39th, Hungary 41st, and Serbia 95th.

Rebranding Croatia as a tourist destination, overcoming the seasonal nature of tourism and increasing average spending by tourists are the main objectives of Croatian tourism by 2020 which have been defined in a strategy and marketing plans, Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin said on Tuesday at a Tourism Congress in Zagreb. The congress, organised by the Poslovni Dnevnik business magazine, attracted around 300 participants from the tourism sector and foreign guests who underscored the importance of tourism for the domestic and European Union economies. According to Alain Liberos from the European Commission, tourism accounted for 9% of the EU's GDP last year. Liberos announced that the European Commission was preparing guidelines for a new approach to the development and future of European tourism. Most speakers at the congress spoke about Croatia's tourism strategy adopted in 2013, which should serve as a guide for the development of Croatia's tourism.

A ceremony was held at Zagreb Airport on Tuesday to mark the start of flight service by another air carrier, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS). SWISS will operate daily flights between Zurich and Zagreb during the 2015 summer flight schedule and four weekly flights during the 2015-2016 winter schedule, which is expected to boost the tourism and business trade between the two countries and increase traffic at the airport, the ceremony heard. The CEO of the Zagreb Airport operating company MZLZ, Bruno Mazurkiewicz, welcomed the arrival of the new airline, saying that Zagreb and Zurich had a lot in common in tourism and business terms. Swiss Ambassador Stefan Estermann said that 200,000 Swiss tourists visited Croatia annually and that this flight service would improve transport connections between the two countries and bring them closer.

The fourth international travel fair Place2Go, which presents global tourist destinations, opened in Zagreb on Friday. Until March 15, more than 170 exhibitors will present their tourist programmes in 18 countries, including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Malaysia, India, Japan, Tunisia and Turkey. Also presented are tourist destinations in Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia. Among first-time exhibitors are Belgium, China, Russia and Namibia. The show was opened by Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin, who said that Croatia was an increasingly popular destination in global proportions, attracting tourists from more than 70 countries.