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A new strategic marketing plan for Croatian tourism in the 2014-2020 period is expected to be completed by the end of the year, the Director of the Head Office of the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ), Meri Matesic, and Assistant Tourism Minister Davor Izakovic said at a presentation held as part of Croatian Tourism Days in the coastal city of Zadar on Friday. The plan will define marketing tools and tactics, brands and the slogan of Croatian tourism and will be carried out by the HTZ, while the Ministry of Tourism, acting in cooperation with the tourist sector, will draft a bill to reorganise the system of local tourism boards with a view to creating destination management organisations (DMOs). The plan will be drawn up in cooperation with the HTZ by the firms THR and Horwath Consulting for HRK 4.5 million inclusive of VAT.

The Master Class named ''Improve your skills in developing, optimising and evaluating properly integrated e-marketing strategies“, organised by the Ministry of Tourism, the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)  and the European Travel Commission (ETC) had taken place in Zadar, proceeding the Croatian Tourism Days (CTD). The gathering was opened by the Assistant Minister of tourism Mr. Želimir Kramarić. He has emphasized that, as far as Croatia has been concerned,  the organisation of such a Master Class was taking place at the right moment, as the Croatian National Tourism Organisation (CNTO) was about to present at the very Croatian Tourism Days the Strategic Marketing Plan 2014 - 2020 in which  one of the strategic guidelines was a stronger focus on online tools. „We wish to present our tourism products to the world in a modern way, especially bearing in mind that Croatia has been the new EU member state. The EU funds have become available to us and we ought to seize the opportunity by preparing appropriate projects “, said Mr. Kramarić. The UNWTO representative Luigi Cabrini, pointed out at the opening of the gathering that Croatia has been a wonderful „success story“ in the area of tourism. „In spite of difficult economic situation, tourism has been having the upward trend. A good sign for Croatian economy is the fact that this year tourism has recorded growing figures in terms of arrivals, overnights and turnover. Croatia has a lot of products to offer, aside from the „the sun and the sea“, like eco and rural tourism, among other“, said Mr. Cabrini. Head of Research and Development at the ETC, Ms. Valeria Croce said that the Handbook which was to be presented  during the CTD, had been the output of a  several year long research, a destination e-marketing encyclopedia of its own, made available in all  UNWTO and the ETC e-libraries.

 In the first nine months of this year there were 32,870 newly employed in tourism which is a growth of 18.2% in comparison to the same period last year, the Tourism Ministry reported on Tuesday referring to the latest data released by the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ). According HZZ data, the number of newly employed in tourism represents 20.5% of all newly employed in that period.Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin said that this was a good indicator particularly in consideration of the numbers for September which can be now considered as a constituent part of the peak season and no longer off-peak.