Category: Travel News

The positive news is coming again – Croatia opened its borders. Tourists who prove at the border that they have booked tourist accommodation in Croatia – can actually enter the country without any problems. And most importantly, there are no more self-isolation rules. Find all the information below. Also, very importantly, Low-cost airline Eurowings has decided to launch a few international routes to destinations in Croatia.

What is required for entry in Croatia?

• Croatian and foreign citizens can enter and leave the Republic of Croatia in compliance with the rules of the “Croatian Institute of Public Health”.
• Citizens from EU countries can enter Croatia if they have justified reasons (economic activities, business meetings, tourist stay).
• There are no self-isolation rules
• All of them will receive written instructions for entering the country.
• Foreign citizens can also write to the e-mail of the Border Administration (uzg.covid@mup.hr) and ask if they have all the conditions for entering the Republic of Croatia
• Citizens of non-EU countries can also enter Croatia for the purpose of business meetings.

Croatia opened its borders – New rules

• After entering Croatia, foreign citizens are obliged to use highways.
• In case you cross the border at a crossing that is not on the highway, you are obliged to head towards the highway by the shortest possible route.
• During stopping, you must adhere to strict rules of social distancing.
• For tourist travelers, it is necessary to enter information about the place/address where the tourist will stay, contact phone number, and time of stay – when they plan to leave the Republic of Croatia.

Eurowings launches new routes to Croatia

Low-cost airline Eurowings has decided to launch a few international routes to destinations in Croatia. By the way, Croatia is one of the most important destinations of this low-budget airline. Find out more from the list below.

• Köln – Zagreb (from June 20) – once a week, on Saturdays
• Köln – Zadar (from June 20) – once a week, on Saturdays
• Düsseldorf – Rijeka (from June 20) – once a week, on Saturdays
• Düsseldorf – Pula (from June 20) – once a week, on Saturdays
• Düsseldorf – Split (from June 20) – once a week, on Saturdays
• Hamburg – Split (from June 02) – twice a week, on Tuesdays and Sundays
• Hamburg – Rijeka (from June 21) – once a week, on Sundays
• Stuttgart – Split ((from June 06) – once a week, on Saturdays

The Coronavirus Crisis – Related articles

• Ryanair plans to restore 40% of flights from July 1, 2020
• We expect a large fall in property prices in Croatia
• Corona free destination is Croatia, German BILD published an interesting article
• Tourist season 2020: Czech tourists are coming this summer to Croatia?
• What will happen with the tourist season 2020 in Croatia?

Traffic jams at the border crossings with Slovenia

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Na graničnom prijelazu Ormož susreo sam se s ministrom unutarnjih poslova 🇸🇮 @aleshojs. Razgovarali smo o borbi protiv koronavirusa, povećanju mobilnosti između Slovenije i Hrvatske, sprječavanju ilegalnih migracija i ulasku Hrvatske u #Schengen kao zajedničkom interesu. pic.twitter.com/0EIeQtnQhM

— Davor Božinović (@DavorBozinovic) May 16, 2020

Slovenia has become the first European country to proclaim an end to the coronavirus epidemic. Since Croatia has opened its borders, traffic jams on borders have already begun. Yesterday, the worst was at the border crossing Rupa and Bregana. The photos are like it’s August. Convoys of vehicles were waiting to enter Croatia. The border police have a lot to do with the new rules and the whole process takes much longer. More precisely, it is necessary to check for everyone why they come to Croatia. Overview of the situation when entering and leaving Croatia you can check on the official website of the Croatian Automobile Club HAK.

Recommended Experiences

It’s good news that Croatia opened its borders and now is time to start exploring best experiences this summer. Find, compare, and book sightseeing tours, attractions, excursions, things to do, and fun activities.

Source:
HRVATSKA PREŠUTNO OTVORILA GRANICE PRIJE ČETIRI DANA! (16.05.2020.)
HAK: Gužve na granici na ulazu u Hrvatsku (16.05.2020.)
Obveza korištenja autocesta prilikom tranzita kroz RH (16.05.2020.)

Increasingly, we read about Croatia as a corona free destination, as confirmed by German newspapers. Actually, the largest German newspaper BILD published on April 24, 2020, a huge analysis of the top destinations for summer 2020 during a coronavirus pandemic entitled “WOHIN REISEN IM CORONA-SOMMER?”. In this analysis, Croatia could be an ideal place for anyone planning a vacation.

How much safer Croatia is than most countries in the European Union is best illustrated by the fact that Croatia records only 12 deaths per million population. Unlike Germany, which records 65 deaths from coronaviruses per million population. German Minister for Economic Co-operation and Development Gerd Muller has announced that trips outside Germany will be enabled soon, so Croatia has already started on plans to save the 2020 tourist season.

Croatia – corona free destination

Croatia will advertise this summer as a country as corona free destination. On April 25, there were only 7 new cases with a tendency to fall. Currently, the procedures for quitting the quarantine measures are in 3 phases, and everything ends on May 11, 2020. The reason why Croatia is doing so well with the coronavirus pandemic is the fact that very strict measures were introduced very early on. Also, last week, The German Travel Association announced that domestic tourism could benefit from this situation this summer, as well as tourism from neighboring countries and those destinations, such as Croatia, which can be reached by private transport.

Difficult times for Italy, Spain, and France

German newspaper Bild writes that it is certain that the most popular destinations for Germans – Italy, Spain, and France – will fall out as the best tourist destinations for the summer of 2020. Because of this fact, Croatia could attract more tourists and take advantage of this uncertain situation in Europe. The first with negotiations for the 2020 tourist season in Croatia was started by the Czechs a few weeks ago. Read the article below for more information.

Tourist season 2020: Czech tourists are coming this summer to Croatia?

Plans for the future of tourism

Coronavirus has stopped a lot of things in the world, including almost entirely business tourism processes and trips. Literally, all EU Member States are in the same, precarious situation. It will soon and increasingly be important to take action as soon as possible to recover the tourism sector as quickly as possible after loosening restrictions. Therefore, discussions have begun among tourism ministers across the European Union on how to ensure the functioning of the system under these circumstances.

Source:
1. https://novac.jutarnji.hr/aktualno/nijemci-bi-mogli-ljetovati-u-hrvatskoj-jer-se-pozicionira-kao-korona-free-destinacija/10244275/ (25.04.2020.)
2. https://www.bild.de/bild-plus/geld/mein-geld/mein-geld/coronavirus-und-urlaub-im-sommer-so-will-kroatien-deutsche-touristen-holen-70243404,view=conversionToLogin.bild.html (25.04.2020.)

The tourist season 2020 in Croatia was supposed to start for Easter but this year will be different. In recent days, we have become increasingly concerned about the future with Coronavirus expansion worldwide. In addition, a few weeks ago, Zagreb was hit by the strongest earthquake in the last 140 years and more than 26,000 buildings were damaged. The good news is that the coronavirus pandemic will one day end. The bad news is that we don’t know when that day will come, whether it will be in a month or in a year. But we are quite sure that the consequences of this crisis will be even greater than the 2008 crisis. One of the most affected sectors is certainly tourism.

Can we save the tourist season 2020 in Croatia?

Croatia’s high tourism revenue share of almost 20% of GDP is one of the highest in the world. Already by the beginning of the crisis in Europe, all the largest airlines have put off or totally canceled most flights to Croatia. Today, travel through the country is actually impossible unless you have a QR code pass. Some extremely tourist cities today are red zones. However, Croatia doesn’t yet have exponential growth of Coronavirus. Also, it is expected that the virus pandemic will weaken in the coming summer.

Until June 1, 2020, all the rules will remain in force. Some statistics indicate a 95% decline in tourism activities for March 2020. After June 1st, we hope that the Croats will return to life as it once was. If after that date life returns to normal, the tourist season 2020 in Croatia still has a chance. The positive thing is that Croatian tourism focuses on 2 months of the year, July and August. Although these dates look very close, any tourist season would bring hope to the future of the business here.

How will tourists come?

Since it is very difficult to expect that guests arrive by air transport, most tourists will be from countries that can be reached by car. These are the countries where we are traditionally extremely popular as a tourist destination: Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, etc. Also, I think it will be extremely difficult this year to get people to travel, especially to further destinations. Countries with a much larger population will focus on the domestic market. The best example is Spain, which has already announced similar plans. Unfortunately, Croatia is not in a similar situation due to less than 4 million inhabitants while over 16 million tourists come to Croatia during the summer season.

Will there be a big discount?

The biggest economic problems in this crisis could have services, especially transport, and all those who rely on tourism: accommodation, food, and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, and travel services. Already today if we sign up for some food delivery apps (like Wolt or Glovo) we will see big discounts. Although some Croatian destinations were among the most expensive in Europe last year, it is increasingly likely that many services will become much cheaper in the coming recession.

Turkey, Egypt, and Greece are traditionally cheaper than Croatia, so if there is a tourist season 2020 in Croatia, we will have to think about bigger price drops. Certainly, the biggest fall in prices will have Italy, which is among the most affected countries with this virus. Finally, I would like to point out that the Government of the Republic of Croatia has already presented 2 packages of plans o help companies. It remains our hope that this crisis will end as soon as possible.