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The northern Adriatic town of Rovinj is the best big coastal destination in Croatia, Varazdin is the best destination in the mainland, and tennis player Marin Cilic has been awarded for the international promotion of Croatia, it was said at an award-giving ceremony held at the end of a national tourism conference in Opatija on Friday. The awards are presented traditionally at the end of the tourist season and after an evaluation at the Croatian Tourism Days conference by the Croatian Tourism Board and the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, which, together with the Tourism Ministry, organise the conference.

Croatia's tourism sector will have a new slogan, visual identity and marketing campaign in 2015, which, as part of a process of re-branding the country as a tourist destination, will place more emphasis on the diversity and originality of its tourism products in relation to other countries, and the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ) will publish a tender for the new slogan, visual identity and marketing campaign next week. This was stated by HTZ director Ratomir Ivicic at a conference on the national tourism sector in Opatija on Thursday. Ivicic said the tender (regarding the slogan, campaign, the selection of a global PR agency) would remain open for about 45 days.

Despite unfavourable circumstances for this year's tourism season, the first nine months as well as September alone saw a continuation of upward trends in both guests' arrivals and their overnight stays, according to figures compiled by the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) which Minister Darko Lorencin presented at a news conference in the Tuheljske Toplice Spa on Friday. In September, the number of visitors rose 0.3% to 1.45 million, and overnight stays increased by 2% to 8.75 million, while the first nine months of 2014 saw a 4.2% rise in the number of tourists' arrivals to 12.1 million and a 2% increase in their overnight stays totalling 70.7 million.

With the aim to further improve promotion, and especially the promotion of active tourism, the Croatian National Tourist Board has supported a unique and interesting undertaking on a global scale. Ten years after the video of the parachute jump performed by Felix Baumgartner into the Mamet Cave has been viewed across the globe, this cave of the Velebit Mountain has become the scene of another incredible adventure. Ivan Trifonov, a seventy-year-old Austrian with Croatian passport, has become the first man alive who tried and managed to accomplish a balloon flight underground. The experienced hot air balloon pilot has been registered in the Guinness book of records four times so far, for hot air ballooning over the South Pole, the North Pole, and the Mediterranean Sea, and he is also the first man who stood, dived and flew over the North Pole all within 12 hours. The descent to the bottom of the Mamet Cave, and the successful exit from it is an unprecedented venture in this sport, and Trifonov’s fifth Guinness record. Trifonov has been inspired by the novelist and visionary Jules Verne and by his book Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

The tourism sector’s contribution to communities’ empowerment as one of the pillars of sustainable development was at the heart of this year’s World Tourism Day celebrations. The President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, opened the official celebrations of World Tourism Day held in Guadalajara, Mexico (27 September 2014). World Tourism Day (WTD) was celebrated this year under the theme “Tourism & Community Development“, highlighting the community dimension as one of the key pillars of sustainable development. Organized by UNWTO and the Government of Mexico, the official WTD celebrations took place in the city of Guadalajara (Jalisco) with the presence of President Peña Nieto, tourism ministers and private sector representatives from around the world. Representing more than 8% of Mexico’s GDP and employing 7% of the national workforce, “this rapidly growing sector attracts investment and drives local and regional development, while providing opportunities for growth, particularly for women and youth”, said President Peña Nieto addressing WTD participants. “Tourism is a great social tool reducing inequalities and helping our communities to progress. Due to the potential of this activity, the government has identified tourism as a sector of major relevance”, he added. In his WTD message, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said “This year´s observance of World Tourism Day focuses on the ability of tourism to fully empower people. Engaging local populations in tourism development builds stronger and more resilient communities. Tourism helps people to develop a variety of skills. As a service sector with cross-cutting impact on agriculture, construction or handicrafts, tourism creates millions of jobs and business opportunities. Its capacity to lift people from poverty, promote gender empowerment and help protect the environment has made it a vital tool for achieving positive change in communities across the world”. UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai highlighted that “there can be no real tourism development if it damages the values and culture of host communities, or if the socio-economic benefits generated by tourism do not trickle down to the community level. I would like to invite all tourism stakeholders and host communities to come together and celebrate this day as a symbol of our common efforts in making tourism a true pillar of community development and community development the basis of a more sustainable future.” Among several activities, WTD brought together Ministers of Tourism from nine countries and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at its high-level Think Tank.

A binding international tender for the tourism development project Kupari I in the Dubrovnik area could be published in about a month, by which time the Croatian parliament was expected to give its approval, Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin announced on Thursday. Lorencin was speaking to the press after the government adopted at its session on Thursday a decision on the terms and publication of a call for submission of binding offers for the Kupari I project. He said that parliament's approval was necessary because the project provides for the lease of coastal land for the construction and use of the beach. Over the next 30 days the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure and the State Property Management Agency (DUUDI) should prepare a notice of intention to award a concession and submit it to the government for endorsement and then to parliament for approval.

The Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) launched an advertising campaign in mid-September to promote Croatia as a desirable destination all year round. The campaign called "Experience Croatia All Year Around" (Croatia 365) advertises 22 selected destinations throughout Croatia which offer opportunities for holidays tailor-made for guests at any time. The campaign is being conducted on the markets of France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Norway, Sweden and Great Britain. The HTZ will also organise study tours for reporters from those countries in Croatia. Presentations of those 22 destinations will be organised at special events on 2 October in Ljubljana, on 7 October in London, and also throughout October in Munich, Oslo, Vienna, Paris, Graz, Milan, Stockholm and Padua.

International tourist arrivals grew by 4.6% in the first half of 2014 according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Destinations worldwide received some 517 million international tourists between January and June 2014, 22 million more than in the same period of 2013.

Growth was strongest in the Americas (+6%) followed by Asia and the Pacific and Europe (both at +5%). By subregion, South Asia and Northern Europe (both +8%) were the best performers, together with North-East Asia and Southern Mediterranean Europe (both +7%). “These results show that tourism is consolidating the positive performance of recent years, providing development and economic opportunities worldwide”, said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai. “Indeed, despite geopolitical and economic challenges, the number of international tourist arrivals has grown by 5% a year on average since 2010, a trend that has translated into more economic growth, more exports and more jobs”, he added.

So far, results are in line with the UNWTO forecast issued at the beginning of 2014. For the full year 2014, international tourist arrivals are expected to increase by 4% to 4.5% worldwide, above UNWTO’s long-term forecast of 3.8% per year for the period 2010 to 2020.

The first European interparliamentary conference on sustainable tourism, with an emphasis on the promotion of the cultural heritage and environmental protection, began in the Croatian parliament on Wednesday. The event was opened by Croatian Parliament Speaker Josip Leko, who said tourism had become a global phenomenon and a remarkably propulsive economic branch which could help European countries reduce unemployment and come out of the recession. The conference, organised by the Croatian parliament, drew about 100 representatives from 23 European countries and Morocco. Its goal is to strengthen cooperation between parliaments in tourism-related legislation.