Coronavirus and Earthquake Should Prompt Croatian Tourism Rethink

Dubrovnik, Croatia Copyright Romulic and Stojcic

June the 16th, 2020 – One thing that the last few months has taught us all is just how great Croatia can be when it wants to be and needs to be. The control of the coronavirus epidemic in Croatia was a huge success and universally acknowledged as such. A very low infection rate, only one major care home infection and one of the lowest per capita death rates in the world. It has a lot to brag about in that sense. But what about Croatian tourism?

Now Croatia is grappling with the economic consequences of the virus, the Zagreb earthquake and the lockdown, all of which has seen GDP plunge to pre 2005 levels. The EU has finally agreed – still in principle only as yet – to financial grants rather than loans and the €500 million aid package already pledged to Croatia by Brussels will be a much needed stimulus even if only a first tranche of a larger package to come.

Germany and the Netherlands appear have heeded the warning of France and others that a failure to take collective responsibility for EU recovery funds – rather than do as it did before by burdening countries such as Greece with crippling loans – is an existential challenge and a necessity for the very survival of the EU. €2.3billion is the current funding agreed for EU recovery with funds apportioned amongst member states. Mutual bonds underwritten by the EU collectively, instead of loans to individual member states which actually work to further impoverish their plight.

Total Croatia News has done much in the last six weeks to promote the revival of tourism in Croatia which is badly needed if the economy is going to gain some traction and begin to rebuild. Last year, tourism accounted for 19% of total GDP (and this is an underestimate by up to 5% according to some commentators).

Now may be an opportunity to look at some of the micro issues which I think could further improve Croatia’s tourist offer and which have featured in the commentaries of others. Yes, we want sustainable tourism to return and new models to emerge that allow for growth without damaging the very beauty of this incredible country.

What can be done at minimal or no cost to further enhance the attractiveness of Croatia?

Graffiti: In the 1990’s, New York became a no-go city and one dominated by crime and violence. The entire city became covered in graffiti. In order to reclaim the city, the mayor announced a ”zero tolerance” policy which sought successfully to clean the city up and make crime less tolerated in such a new environment. It worked! The city lost its status as the crime capital of the USA and prospered as a tourist , regaining its prosperity. In less dramatic ways, other cities here in Europe, such as Rome, have also tackled graffiti in recent years and seen tourism rise as a result.

Ironically, Zagreb’s graffiti doesn’t appear to have a link to crime, Zagreb is one of the safest cities in Europe but for a visitor used to the more ”manicured” cities of the world, the graffiti is unsettling and presents a very negative view as to the value Croats place on their fine 19th and 20th century buildings which are often daubed in paint and spray can lettering, destroying the aesthetic beauty of the buildings. Graffiti signals disorder and I dare suggest has a very negative effect on tourists.

A very real and determined effort needs to be adopted to banish graffiti from the historic of Zagreb and other cities and for those who see graffiti as an art form, make sure facilities are provided that don’t vandalise Croatia’s built environment.

Churches: Through it’s treaties with the Vatican, Croatia offers an extremely favourable financial status to the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church in Croatia enjoys an extremely privileged position within Croatian society. One only has to look at the vast and megalithic buildings of the Apostolic Nunciature in Zagreb to understand the power of the Church within the state.

The Catholic churches of Croatia are, however, nearly always closed except for services. A walk around the Kaptol in Zagreb on any day will find the churches locked and without open hours for tourists. A similar walk around Trogir or Split or Dubrovnik will find the same – locked and inaccessible churches.

Given that the churches of Croatia are one of its cultural glories and that the Catholic Church in Croatia is very wealthy, I believe the Church has a duty to contribute to Croatia’s cultural offering and its tourist offering. It’s not too much, surely, to employ retired or young jobless people to act as guardians allowing visitors to see the glory of Croatia’s churches whilst keeping them safe? Maybe in return for the benefits enjoyed by the Church, something can be given back by granting full access to the cultural wonders of Croatia?

Salt: Croatia has a rich and long standing affinity with salt – first as a preservative and later as a culinary delicacy with salts from different sources offering different properties and tastes. In recent years however, the use of excessive salt in cooking and preserving has been proven to have adverse consequences for health and most European medical and public health authorities have lobbied to see the use of so much salt in cooking reduced.

Croatia is somewhat behind in reducing salt levels in its food and I suspect that tourists from more ”salt aware” counties find this difficult. In 2015, salt intake in Croatia, per head, was more than double the WHO recommendations and salt consumption generally was one of the highest in Europe. Less salt for better health and the greater consumption of Croatian food products by visitors?

It’s at a time to rethink and rebuild so that some of the more subtle but less demanding restraints on Croatian tourism can be addressed on order to improve the tourist experience of the entire country and generate higher income for Croatia at generally little extra cost.

For more on Croatian tourism, follow our travel page.

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