ECTAA to promote Croatia as destination of the year

The Croatian National Tourism Board (HTZ) and the Group of National Travel Agents' and Tour Operators' Associations within the EU (ECTAA) signed in Zagreb on Friday a EUR 50,000 contract on marketing cooperation based on which the ECTAA will promote Croatia over the next 12 months as a recommended travel and vacation destination.

Nearly 80,000 ECTAA members from 29 European countries will promote Croatia through various channels until 31 March 2012, HTZ director Niko Bulic said while signing the contract with ECTAA president Irena Gueorguieva.

Bulic said the money for the promotion, to be paid in three instalments, would pay off multifold.

Gueorguieva highlighted the ECTAA's power in European tourism, saying it would also promote Croatia at meetings with European Union bodies, at two annual meetings of ECTAA directors - in Stockholm in late May and in Dubrovnik in December - as well as in non-European markets.

She said the ECTAA chose Croatia as its destination of the year in keeping with its new project of recommending destinations which had upgraded their services from exclusively mass tourism to a better quality.

The UHPA association of Croatian travel agencies praised the signing of the contract, with its president Boris Zgomba saying it would increase organised tourist arrivals this year.

Tourism Minister Damir Bajs also praised the contract, saying it was an additional step forward in the promotion and competitiveness of Croatian tourism. He said it represented the continuation of the guiding principle of Croatian tourism over the past three years - cooperation between the public and private sectors and cooperation with domestic and foreign tour operators. (Hina)