Scheduled flights from Paris on the way

Dubrovnik and Paris will have a direct connection in 2012 according to an announcement by mayor Vlahušić. The Dutch low cost airline Transavia, jointly owned by KLM and Air France plans to connect the two cities next year. The decision was made known after a meeting between Vlahušić, the director of Dubrovnik airport Roko Tolić and the French minister for parliamentary relations Patrick Ollier.

The deputy president of Transavia Helen Abraham confirmed that the company will fly 67 charter flights from Paris to Dubrovnik this summer season and in September the company will plan their scheduled flights for 2012.   

Early signs promising for good season

In the first two months of the year, Croatia was visited by 3 percent more tourists compared with the same period last year, while the number of bed nights shrank 4.4 percent. In February alone, there were 6.7 percent more tourists and 0.6 percent more bed nights year-on-year, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports.

In the first couple of months there were 240,100 tourist arrivals and nearly 570,000 bed nights. In February there were 131,700 arrivals and 294,700 bed nights. The number of foreign tourists in February was up 9.7 percent to almost 114,000, while the number of their bed nights rose 1 percent to 269,100.

Croatian tourism advertising goes worldwide

The advertising of Croatia’s tourism on global TV stations is underway, with 30-second videos portraying authenticity, way of life, tourist attractions, food, natural and cultural heritage of Croatia on CNN, BBC World, Euronews and Eurosport. The campaign was also launched through banners on the web portals of above TV stations, the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) announced. This is part of the overall promotional activities carried out by the HTZ, following the Strategic Marketing Plan guidelines and trends of demand at the international tourist market. The campaign will last until mid June this year, with a budget of HRK 9.5m. The total TV advertising plan on primary and secondary markets in 2011 amounts to HRK 27.65m.

More interest in Adriatic tourist packages

The tourist agency Atlas is currently recording a 25% increase in tourist packages for the Adriatic over the same period last year. This year will see a return of tourists from all markets which normally choose Croatia as a holiday destination, with the greatest interest for holidays in Croatia shown by France, Germany, Austria, Scandinavian countries, Russia, Turkey and Greece.

Air Berlin announces new flights from Stuttgart and Munich

From May the 3^rd Germany's second biggest airline, Air Berlin, will introduce direct flights from German cities to Rijeka, Dubrovnik and Split. “We want to expand our tourist service and address new target groups for Croatia,” said Christian Lesjak, Executive Vice President Sales Scheduled Services at Air Berlin, during the press conference at the Croatian Tourist Board. This agreement is another step forward for the 2011 season. Three additional measures for strengthening pre-and post-season are related to advertising on Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), for airlines that realize the special charter flights to Croatia in the pre-and post-season and the tour operator that have programs organized by air, bus or rail transport. Dubrovnik will have four flights weekly from Stuttgart and Munich.

Worlds biggest Welcome in Croatia

Participants in the adventure project "Welcome" left the northern Adriatic Bay of Savudrija at Gamboz for a 65-day journey along the Croatian coast and mountain ranges during which they will follow a route forming the word "Welcome". The purpose of the project, launched by Daniel Lacko, is to promote Croatia as an ideal destination for adventure and excursion tourism. The project sponsor is the Croatian National Tourism Board (HTZ). Lacko is accompanied on his journey by a cameraman, a coordinator and a photographer. They will be using a GPS device to make the route of their journey form the word "Welcome". The team began their journey in kayaks, paddling along the west coast of the northern Adriatic Istria peninsula to Porec, writing the first letter of the word "welcome". The journey ends in Dubrovnik, on World Environment Day, June 5, after 2,500 kilometres of hiking, climbing, swimming, bicycle riding and paddling. The team will cross seven counties, eight national parks, three nature parks, four protected areas, reserves and geomorphologic monuments, six rivers and 11 mountain peaks.

Dubrovnik features in 50 greatest cultural destinations

Travel journalists from The Telegraph newspaper have produced a list of the top fifty cultural destinations in the world and it features Dubrovnik. The list, which also includes Paris, Machu Picchu, Damascus and Athens, praises Dubrovnik “With its mixture of Renaissance, Gothic and Baroque architecture, Dubrovnik is remarkably well-preserved.” The worldwide list contains twenty destinations inside Europe and Dubrovnik is the only one in Croatia and in fact in this region of Europe. The newspaper recommends five things not to miss whilst in Dubrovnik and they are the Stradun, the Dominican Monastery, the Maritime Museum, the Sponza Palace and the Franciscan Monastery. The praise continues “It’s somehow too small, too perfect, too unchanged to be quite real. There are no cars, and aside from the repairs that followed the shelling of the city in 1991, almost nothing has been built since the 18th-century.“