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Rebranding Croatia as a tourist destination, overcoming the seasonal nature of tourism and increasing average spending by tourists are the main objectives of Croatian tourism by 2020 which have been defined in a strategy and marketing plans, Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin said on Tuesday at a Tourism Congress in Zagreb. The congress, organised by the Poslovni Dnevnik business magazine, attracted around 300 participants from the tourism sector and foreign guests who underscored the importance of tourism for the domestic and European Union economies. According to Alain Liberos from the European Commission, tourism accounted for 9% of the EU's GDP last year. Liberos announced that the European Commission was preparing guidelines for a new approach to the development and future of European tourism. Most speakers at the congress spoke about Croatia's tourism strategy adopted in 2013, which should serve as a guide for the development of Croatia's tourism.

A ceremony was held at Zagreb Airport on Tuesday to mark the start of flight service by another air carrier, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS). SWISS will operate daily flights between Zurich and Zagreb during the 2015 summer flight schedule and four weekly flights during the 2015-2016 winter schedule, which is expected to boost the tourism and business trade between the two countries and increase traffic at the airport, the ceremony heard. The CEO of the Zagreb Airport operating company MZLZ, Bruno Mazurkiewicz, welcomed the arrival of the new airline, saying that Zagreb and Zurich had a lot in common in tourism and business terms. Swiss Ambassador Stefan Estermann said that 200,000 Swiss tourists visited Croatia annually and that this flight service would improve transport connections between the two countries and bring them closer.

The fourth international travel fair Place2Go, which presents global tourist destinations, opened in Zagreb on Friday. Until March 15, more than 170 exhibitors will present their tourist programmes in 18 countries, including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Malaysia, India, Japan, Tunisia and Turkey. Also presented are tourist destinations in Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia. Among first-time exhibitors are Belgium, China, Russia and Namibia. The show was opened by Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin, who said that Croatia was an increasingly popular destination in global proportions, attracting tourists from more than 70 countries.

Croatia and one of China's most developed provinces, Zhejiang, have plenty of areas in which to develop cooperation, notably in tourism, not only in the exchange and mutual increase in the number of tourists, but also in transport by introducing direct flights and investing in Croatia's health and other types of tourism, Croatian and Chinese officials said on Tuesday. Croatian Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin held talks with Zhejiang Vice Governor Liang Liming on possibilities of expanding tourist cooperation between Croatia and Zhejiang, the fourth Chinese province in terms of GDP. "China offers a big tourist and every other kind of potential and Croatia wants to attract as many tourists as possible from that market and we are willing to support Chinese tour operators who, when there is a critical mass of Chinese tourists, will connect China and Croatia by direct flights. Croatia will present its tourism products at an international investment fair in Ningbo in Zhejiang province in early June this year," Lorencin said. He invited Chinese representatives to come to Rovinj in May for the 100th session of the World Tourism Organization Executive Council since China, a member of the Council, supported Croatia's candidacy to host the session.

Assistant Tourism Minister Davor Izakovic on Friday announced the "Croatia 365 Gourmet" project aimed at promoting the country's cuisine and wines as recognisable products attractive to tourists. A national task force has been recently established to define rules for "Croatia 365 Gourmet", a programme that will include the organisation of promotional events for gastronomy. The project is aimed at enabling Croatian top-notch restaurants to be awarded a Michelin star.