News

Following the recent changes in tax and customs regulations, which enabled a more favourable clearance of vessels temporarily imported into the Republic of Croatia, several meetings have been convened at the Ministry of Tourism with the Tax and Customs Directorate of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and other relevant institutions, with the aim of harmonizing the procedures and processes required for customs clearance and registration of vessels with the Croatian Ships Registry. A content of an informative leaflet has been agreed upon at these meetings, featuring detailed steps and information on customs clearance and the vessels registration procedure in Croatia, along with the list of documents to be gathered, required for getting the vessels registered with the Croatian Ships Registry. Leaflets have been prepared in Croatian, English, German, Italian and Polish and can be downloaded from the websites of the aforementioned institutions - participating in this process, as well as from the website of the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Croatian Employers' Association. Printed copies of flyers were distributed to all port authorities and marinas in Croatia, and will be distributed at international boat shows. The e-mail address: nautika@hgk.hr has been set for all inquiries about these issues.

The TNT travel magazine has described the Croatian coastal city of Pula as an ideal destination for travellers to enjoy sun over a weekend. In the article headlined "Weekender: Pula - the perfect way to spend a weekend in this jewel of the Adriatic," this London-headquartered magazine reports that "Pula, on Croatia's perfect Adriatic coast, is famous for its winemaking and incredible Roman ruins". It also reads that "Croatia is the sun-seekers’ paradise of eastern Europe, most famous for beaches, bars and bygone times. Serving up all this and more is Pula, a seaside city dotted with archaic quirks on the southern coast of the Istria peninsula." This weekly is distributed free of charge to residents of Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and has 250,000 readers.

Croatian Tourism Minister Veljko Ostojic on Sunday said that World Cup slaloms on Mount Sljeme were unforgettable sporting events both for spectators on the slope and for the TV audience. After today's sixth edition of the World Cup men's slalom on Sljeme overlooking the Croatian capital, Minister Ostojic, who attended the event, told reporters that this was an interesting event tourist-wise, and he highlighted the fact that the race was live broadcast in over a score of countries.

The next year will be challenging for the Croatian tourist trade because of a series of both favourable and unfavourable circumstances, Tourism Minister Veljko Ostojic has said in an interview with Hina in which he also stated that he would be very pleased if 2013 was at the same level as 2012 regarding the results in the tourism sector and extremely glad if even better statistics were achieved. As for the favourable circumstances in 2013, the minister emphasises the beginning of the enforcement of a lower, 10-percent rate of the Value Added Tax on a majority of tourism services which he sees as a tailwind to the sector in the long run. The national tourist sector will also take advantages from Croatia's admission to the European Union, set for 1 July, and the EU membership will open many possibilities in the financing of and investments into the tourist trade, according to Ostojic. The adoption of a strategy for Croatian tourism through 2020, a document which is nearing completion, is expected in 2013.