Dubrovnik proclaimed best tourism destination

The tourism forerunner in Croatia this year is the southern coastal town of Dubrovnik which has been proclaimed the best large destination on the Adriatic. Split has been proclaimed the best medium-sized destination and the best smallest destination is southern-most town of Cavtat while Zagreb has been awarded the best inland tourism destination. These are the results of the awards festival on Friday night marking the end of Croatian Tourism Days in Zadar with Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic handing over the award for the best destination, Dubrovnik. In his address Prime Minister Milanovic underscored that upon arriving to Zadar after attending an EU summit in Brussels, he had flown over Croatia and saw a beautiful country in the heart of Europe but also one of the most sparsely populated countries too. We have the resources it is up to us to use them, enhance them or to depreciate them, he said sending a message to the tourism sector that we can do twice as well than until now but even as it is, tourism is the only economic branch that Croatia can be measured by in the world. Revenue of EUR 7 billion, he said, could be said to be a little but what is important is that that revenue is growing and we are moving toward earning more from tourism.

The tourism forerunner in Croatia this year is the southern coastal town of Dubrovnik which has been proclaimed the best large destination on the Adriatic. Split has been proclaimed the best medium-sized destination and the best smallest destination is southern-most town of Cavtat while Zagreb has been awarded the best inland tourism destination. These are the results of the awards festival on Friday night marking the end of Croatian Tourism Days in Zadar with Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic handing over the award for the best destination, Dubrovnik.

In his address Prime Minister Milanovic underscored that upon arriving to Zadar after attending an EU summit in Brussels, he had flown over Croatia and saw a beautiful country in the heart of Europe but also one of the most sparsely populated countries too.

We have the resources it is up to us to use them, enhance them or to depreciate them, he said sending a message to the tourism sector that we can do twice as well than until now but even as it is, tourism is the only economic branch that Croatia can be measured by in the world. Revenue of EUR 7 billion, he said, could be said to be a little but what is important is that that revenue is growing and we are moving toward earning more from tourism.

Referring to Value Added Tax (VAT) in tourism, the prime minister recalled that it had been reduced from 25% to 10% which is good for tourism but now the government is questioning should that reduction have been made or not, however the belief is that even without that reduction our tourism would have been competitive.

Generally, we are in a sustainable position, we can do even better from tourism, Milanovic underscored congratulating tourism workers and those awarded sending a message that investments into tourism do pay off and that they who dare enter in risks succeed.

The best tourism destinations were awarded after being judged jointly by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Croatian national television HRT and the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ). Some of the other awards included the best hotel with Dubrovnik's Hotel Excelsior taking this prize, the Marina Frapa in the central coastal town of Rogoznica was proclaimed the best marina and the best camp is the Bi-village in the northern coastal town of Fazana while the best beach resort is the Solaris resort, just outside the the central coastal town of Sibenik.

The ceremony was attended by many reputable faces in the tourism industry as well as HGK vice president Vesna Trnokop Tanta, HRT's director Goran Radman, Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin and Entrepreneurs Minister Gordan Maras.
It was interesting to see that HGK president Nadan Vidosevic and Zadar Mayor Bozidar Kalmeta did not attend the ceremony.

The two have recently been the focus of media attention in light of the latest corruption scandal of alleged siphoning of funds from the HGK and Croatian road authorities for which close associates of both officials have been suspected and placed into custody. (Hina)

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