Minister Brnjac on a working visit to the City of Buzet

Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac visited the city of Buzet in the Istrian County today, where she held a meeting with the Mayor of Buzet, Damir Kajin. The meeting discussed, among other things, the importance of joining tourist boards and the development and potential of year-round tourism, with an emphasis on digital nomads, who are increasingly recognizing the interior of Istria as an ideal destination for their stay.

"Our special focus today was on the importance of the association of tourist boards, which Istria very quickly recognized as important. By joining together, tourist boards have the opportunity to use financial resources more efficiently, but also to manage tourist destinations in a better way. In this way, we contribute not only to the stronger recognition of tourist destinations, but also to the creation of a system of sustainable and resilient tourism, which is important to all of us.", Minister Brnjac said, adding that in the last two years, the number of tourist boards has decreased at the level of cities and municipalities, and that in 2022, more than HRK 12 million is available from the Fund for Joint Tourist Boards for projects of joint tourist boards.

Let us recall that back in 1997, the tourist boards of the City of Pazin, the municipalities of Sveti Lovreč, Cerovlje, Gračišće, Karojba, Lupoglav, Sveti Petar u Šumi, Pićan and Tinjan formally joined forces under the name "Central Istria", and the tourist boards of Buzet, Barban, Žminj, Svetvinčenat and Kanfanar recently joined them under the project name "Authentic Istria", all with the aim of jointly implementing one or more activities aimed at developing a tourist product and promoting the destination in the segments of enogastronomy, active tourism and cultural, historical and natural attractions. 

The minister also referred to digital nomadism as an interesting niche for Croatian tourism, since nomads are not seasonal, but year-round guests, and their interests are diverse and not necessarily related to the sea and sun, and praised the activities carried out so far with which Istria is trying to attract a greater number of digital nomads. 

Today's meeting also discussed the importance of developing sustainable, year-round tourism, the new Strategy for the Development of Sustainable Tourism until 2030, and the possibilities of co-financing projects from the mechanisms of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. 

In the Istria County, 115% more arrivals and 71% more overnight stays have been achieved so far in 2022 than in the same period in 2021, and compared to the same period in 2019, 5% more arrivals and 13% more overnight stays have been achieved, while in Buzet, 115% more arrivals and 71% more overnight stays have been achieved so far than in the same period in 2021, and 5% more arrivals and 13% more overnight stays have been achieved than in the same period in 2019.

Source and photo: MINTS