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Croatia and one of China's most developed provinces, Zhejiang, have plenty of areas in which to develop cooperation, notably in tourism, not only in the exchange and mutual increase in the number of tourists, but also in transport by introducing direct flights and investing in Croatia's health and other types of tourism, Croatian and Chinese officials said on Tuesday. Croatian Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin held talks with Zhejiang Vice Governor Liang Liming on possibilities of expanding tourist cooperation between Croatia and Zhejiang, the fourth Chinese province in terms of GDP. "China offers a big tourist and every other kind of potential and Croatia wants to attract as many tourists as possible from that market and we are willing to support Chinese tour operators who, when there is a critical mass of Chinese tourists, will connect China and Croatia by direct flights. Croatia will present its tourism products at an international investment fair in Ningbo in Zhejiang province in early June this year," Lorencin said. He invited Chinese representatives to come to Rovinj in May for the 100th session of the World Tourism Organization Executive Council since China, a member of the Council, supported Croatia's candidacy to host the session.

Assistant Tourism Minister Davor Izakovic on Friday announced the "Croatia 365 Gourmet" project aimed at promoting the country's cuisine and wines as recognisable products attractive to tourists. A national task force has been recently established to define rules for "Croatia 365 Gourmet", a programme that will include the organisation of promotional events for gastronomy. The project is aimed at enabling Croatian top-notch restaurants to be awarded a Michelin star.

Tourism initiatives and scholars from around the world will once again be recognized for their outstanding contribution to the sector at the UNWTO Awards Ceremony to be held at the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) in Madrid, Spain, on 28 January 2015. Since 2003, the UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism have honored tourism initiatives and individuals for their contribution to tourism through knowledge and innovation, in line with the principles of the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

The Government of the Republic of Croatia confirmed the decision of the Ministry of Tourism granting the approval to host the 100^th Session of the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to be held in Rovinj from 27th to 29th May, 2015. Upon this decision, the Organisational Committee for the Preparation of the Session will be established gathering the representatives of all relevant ministries, tourist boards and cities in Istria, airports and public institutions. UNWTO is the specialized of the United Nations for tourism. Rovinj was chosen as a venue of the 100^th jubilee session by the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) at its meeting held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain in June 2014 which was also attended by the delegation from the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia led by Minister Darko Lorencin. Croatia contended to host the 100^th jubilee session with Egypt and Jamaica. It is an immense honour and privilege for Croatia to host the 100^th jubilee session as well as the acknowledgement of its participation in the work of the World Tourism Organisation and the conformation of the reputation our country enjoys in this umbrella tourism organisation. I believe we shall justify the outspoken confidence in May of the next year and Croatia will be chartered in the itinerary of the top-notch tourism professionals and experts from all over the world, Minister Darko Lorencin accentuated and added that the relevant session would be the opportunity to present Croatia also as a high-end destination for congress tourism. We are very happy to count on the excellent support of the government of Croatia to host this landmark session of the UNWTO Executive Council, said Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General. Croatia is a leader in tourism development and we look forward for a very enriching meeting.

The finalists of the 11^th UNWTO Ulysses Awards for Innovation in Tourism, one of the three categories in the annual UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism, have been announced today (Madrid, 22 December 2014). Every year since 2003, the UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism have honored tourism initiatives that contribute to advance tourism through knowledge and innovation, in line with the principles of the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.