Croatia is safe destination for Slovenian guests

The Croatian Tourism and Sports Ministry on Wednesday rejected claims by Slovenian government spokesman Jelko Kacin that the coronavirus situation in Croatia was dramatic, underscoring that the counties with the greatest number of Slovenian tourists had a total of 10 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Slovenian government spokesman Jelko Kacin has said that Croatia will be officially put on a list of epidemiologically unsafe countries on Thursday because the situation there has deteriorated dramatically, calling on Slovenian tourists and those who own property in Croatia to return as soon as possible.

If they want to avoid compulsory 14-day quarantine upon their return from Croatia, all Slovenian holidaymakers will have to return by the end of the week at the latest, Kacin said.

Stressing that the situation in Croatia "has been deteriorating dramatically", Kacin said that with the latest infections Croatia would probably have more than 40 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks, which makes it qualify for Slovenia's red list of epidemiologically unsafe countries.

Following Kacin's statements, the Croatian ministry reiterated that Slovenia was one of the most crucial markets for Croatia's tourism industry.

This is evidenced by data from the eVisitor system, which shows that in June Croatia registered about 207,000 arrivals and 1.1 million bed nights from the Slovenian market, and about 382,000 arrivals and 3.4 million bed nights in July.

According to preliminary data for August, there have been about 238,000 arrivals and 2.2 million bed nights generated by Slovenian tourists until August 18, 71.4% of which were reported in Istria, the Kvarner region and Lika, the ministry said, underscoring that these three counties recorded a total of 10 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

Most Slovenian tourists have a very good perception of Croatia, and they feel safe since they know the country well and are owners of many properties here, over 100,000, the ministry noted.

Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac is in constant contact with representatives of tourist associations to ensure compliance with epidemiological measures in tourist facilities, as well as the possibility of introducing testing (for the coronavirus) for foreign visitors.

"Croatia will continue to do everything in its power so that foreign institutions have accurate and precise information on the basis of which they make decisions on putting countries on high-risk lists or lists of safe countries," the ministry said in the press release. (Hina)

News