Croatia wants regular flights

Tourism minister vows improved programs for Korean tourists

By Jung Min-ho

Croatia’s Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin

Croatia is seeking to establish regular flights to Korea to cater to a surging number of Korean tourists to the European country, Croatia’s Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin said Monday.

According to Croatia’s Tourism Ministry, 221,215 Koreans visited the country for the first ten months of this year. This is a dramatic increase from 16,504 in 2010. More Koreans visited Croatia than Japanese (158,000) and Chinese (54,000) in that period.

Yet the minister believes the number could grow even more with the country setting up a better environment for Korean tourists.

“Korea is the most important market for us in Asia,” he said in an interview. “Up to 2020, we are planning to invest around 7 billion euros ($8.7 billion) in the private sector to increase the quality of hotels and infrastructure.”

Lorencin came to Korea, Sunday, for a three-day trip and met with high-ranking officials of travel agencies and airline companies to discuss “how to improve tourism products for Koreans.”

The former assistant minister of economy is working on connecting the countries with regular flights so that more Koreans can enjoy Croatia’s beautiful landscapes and historical cities more conveniently. For now, there are only chartered flights.

Croatia, which is called the “Jewel of the Adriatic,” is not only a sun and beach destination, he said. “The country has plenty of natural beautiful areas and cultural heritages.”

Plitvice Lakes National Park, one of Croatia’s hot tourists’ spots, is a UNESCO World Heritage that attracts 1,200,000 visitors annually from around the world.

At the coastal city of Split, tourists can see unique Roman heritage, including UNESCO-protected Diocletian’s Palace. The city was built around the palace, which is known as one of the most complete architectural and cultural features on the Croatian Adriatic coast.

“It is very interesting to see Roman heritage next to modern structures. Altogether, they create a unique atmosphere where you can feel like you are in a time machine,” Lorencin said.

Tourism is one of the most important industries of Croatia, now accounting for 16.5 percent of its GDP, he said.

Despite the increasing number of Asian tourists, about 90 percent of travelers to Croatia come from Europe. This means an opportunity for Lorencin.

“We have so many things to offer, even compared with other competitive European tourist destinations such as Italy. What we need is just more promotion,” he said.

With more future visitors from Asia, the goal of the ministry is to place Croatia among the top 20 tourist destinations in the world by 2020.

Early this year, tvN’s reality show “Noonas Over Flowers,” which was filmed in Croatia, played a big role in promoting the country to Koreans.

Lorencin said there are many more things to discover. And these include, tasty cuisine that is relatively unknown to Koreans.

For example, he said, scampi is one of those things that Korean tourists should not miss when they visit there.

“It is a shrimp cuisine that tastes great,” he said. “And did you know that necktie was invented in Croatia?”