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PRESENTING
Awards: Rovinj – tourist
champion of Croatia
The Istrian town of Rovinj, one of the most romantic Croatian travel
destinations, known for its quality tourist infrastructure and numerous
tourist facilities, was pronounced Croatian tourist champion this year.
Rovinj deserved the flattering title due to the fact that it was pronounced
number one in both quality rating campaigns – it was awarded the Blue Flower
with a golden mark for the tidiest littoral town within the Blue Flower
campaign launched by the Croatian National Tourist Board, and the big statue
Tourist Flower – Quality for Croatia 2008 (in the category of over 10,000
beds) within the campaign implemented by the Croatian Chamber of Economy and
Croatian Radiotelevision.
Over the past years, substantial funds were invested in reconstruction, new
construction and offer quality, with a great focus on improvement of the
town itself and the quality of its infrastructure. Today, it is able to
accommodate around 30 thousand tourists in one day in different types of
accommodation facilities. The hotel offer is consistent with the
requirements of the modern tourist market – in addition to the holiday
offer, special attention is paid to the congress offer, accompanied with
developed wellness facilities painted by the colors of the Mediterranean.
Rovinj delights the guests with its architecture and atmosphere. The old
town core of this truly romantic little town is situated on an elevation
dominated by the Church of St. Euphemia – a magnificent baroque building
featuring a 60-meter tower with a bronze statue of St. Euphemia on top of
it, which has stood there for two and a half centuries. The statue is 4.70
meters high, it revolves around the axis and its right hand shows the
direction of the wind. Because of the legends and stories associated with
St. Euphemia, you can find people praying for fortune, love and health to
this town guardian any time of the day and in every season… The town has
numerous cultural and historical monuments attracting numerous tourists year
after year. The highlights among them include the latest one – the House on
Batana, the first eco-museum dedicated to the batana, a traditional vessel
of Rovinj’s fishermen. Throughout the year, Rovinj puts on numerous
entertaining, cultural and sporting events providing the guests with
artistic pleasure, entertainment and access to the tradition and customs of
the town and the region.
Istrian County Tourist Board
www.istra.hr
Rovinj Tourist Board
www.tzgrovinj.hr
Aljmaš: Live crčche at the
Shrine for Christmas holidays
A live crčche will be set up in Aljmaš, a well known Marian Shrine, for the
second year in a row. The program is scheduled for Christmas Eve, 24
December, 26 December, and for Epiphany, 6 January 2009. The crčche,
symbolizing the actual crib in which Baby Jesus was laid after being born in
the Bethlehem Cave, is one of the most common Christmas decorations.
Although the custom of staging a live crčche is around two millennia old,
and several centuries in some European countries, it is relatively new in
Croatia due to the historical circumstances. The first live crčche was set
up in front of the Zagreb Cathedral a few years ago, followed by Osijek, and
then the Aljmaš Shrine of Virgin Mary of the Sanctuary as of last year. The
Aljmaš region is distinctive for the Marian Shrine, so the live crčche
project aims to emphasize the spiritual side of Christmas holidays. The
first live crčche was arranged last year with the help of some 50 volunteers
and donors under the slogan Follow the Shooting Star to Aljmaš. In addition
to the live crčche scene on Braće Radić Square, the area in front of the
shrine will offer other events, including an exhibition area for
handicrafts, holiday sweets, a workshop for straw Christmas decorations, old
customs, etc. The atmosphere is completed by concerts in the church. In
addition to emphasizing the spiritual side of this holiday, the goal is to
create an offer of events that will attract tourists to the region, not just
seasonally but any time of the year. The Local Democracy Agency, Erdut
Municipality Tourist Board, Municipality of Erdut and Aljmaš Parish Office
work together on the preparation of this event.
Three churches in the Aljmaš region have been known through history – the
first one dating back to 1697, the second one dating back to 1708, and the
third one dating back to 1846. Aljmaš became a parish fair site in 1704. The
Jesuits established the Shrine of Virgin Mary that year, bringing a statue
of Virgin Mary from Lug (Luško), Baranja. Aljmaš was pronounced a parish in
1807. In 1857, Bishop Strossmayer donated a new statue of Virgin Mary (the
present one) to the Aljmaš Shrine, made in Vienna.
During the Homeland War, the statue of Virgin Mary was moved to Osijek. In
1998, the statue was returned to Aljmaš, and the preparations for
construction of a new church, the fourth one in the three centuries of the
Aljmaš Shrine, began the following year. It was completed and consecrated in
2004, in the year of the 300th anniversary of the Shrine. The Way of the
Cross, 480 meters long and paved with concrete plates, was built and blessed
in 2006 on a hill above Aljmaš within the Calvary that was erected by the
Jesuits in 1726, but has been demolished and devastated throughout the
history. They set up 14 large oak crosses and marble plates with the
appropriate texts at each station.
The construction of the Aljmaš Shrine was completed in 2007 when they built
the pilgrims’ plateau, numerous confessionals, a pilgrims’ area, a chapel, a
hall, a souvenir shop and bathroom facilities. They also improved and paved
the entire area around the shrine and planted decorative bushes and flowers.
This shrine is a common destination among pilgrims and one of the most
important Croatian shrines, visited by around 100,000 believers a year, most
of them coming for the holiday of the Assumption of Virgin Mary on 15
August.
The village of Aljmaš was first mentioned in the first half of the 14th
century and its name is derived from the Hungarian word alma, which means
apple. It is popular for its rural, hunting and fishing tourism.
Osijek-Baranja County Tourist Board
www.tzosbarzup.hr
Erdut Municipality Tourist Board
www.erdut.hr
Vukovar-Srijem County:
tradition and new tourist attractions
The year 2009 will be significant for tourism in the town of Vinkovci for
several reasons: the existing accommodation facilities in the town will be
supplemented by the first hostel and wellness hotel in the County. A project
for connection of 240 kilometers of biking tracks is being completed in the
County, and two new tourist boats will be stationed in Ilok and Spačva. This
makes a great contribution to further development of tourism in the
easternmost Croatian region, attracting a great number of tourists from
abroad and from other parts of the country.
The Danube, Srijem and Sava biking routes are intended for mountain bikes or
quality touring bikes, and the choice depends on both the weather and
physical condition of the bikers as the tracks are of different difficulty
levels. However, what they all have in common is the fact that they connect
many tourist attractions of the region, providing the bikers with an
interesting combination of recreation and enjoying the magnificent landscape
and the rich tourist offer. Maps available in Tourist Offices will help the
tourists find their way around and understand the attractions offered by the
region.
The town of Vinkovci is also known for the discovery of a preserved vessel
painted by the first recorded time measurement, which is considered to be
the oldest European calendar – the Orion.
Procurement of two tourist boats – one of them stationed in Ilok and the
other one next to Hotel Spačva situated on the river bearing the same name
and surrounded by the beautiful Spačva forest – will be of great help to the
tourist validation of the region.
All these novelties will contribute to the attractiveness of the easternmost
Croatian county, attracting tourists with its historical sites, events and
customs, magnificent nature, as well as a rich tourist, wine and gastro
offer. The numerous interesting features include the Spačva forest, the
largest penduculate oak forest in this part of Europe, and the Vučedol
archeological site near Vukovar as one of the most important archeological
sites in Croatia. Unfortunately, the site is not available to tourists and
is not included in Vukovar-Srijem County tourist programs yet due to
numerous explorations and reconstructions. The Old Cellar within the Ilok
Cellars, another attraction of the region, dates back to the 17th century.
This is a unique wine facility for traditional production, care and storage
of wine, visited by over 20 thousand people a year. It is built in three
levels for temperature adjustment both for young wines and care, storage and
maturing of older wines, as well as for care of predicate wines and storage
of archive wines. It is interesting to know that 11,000 bottles were
delivered from this cellar for the coronation of British Queen Elizabeth II.
The Old Ilok Cellars are part of the unique Ilok Wine Road.
In addition to many other landmarks in this veritable treasury, its folk
treasure and customs presented every year at the Vikovci Autumns events (a
tradition of 43 years), we will mention the fact that right here, in the
town of Županja, football was played for the first time in Croatia, back in
1880, as well as tennis. Both sports were brought by the English who lived
here and built a tannin factory, putting the Croatian fans of these sports
in their debt.
Vukovar-Srijem County Tourist Board
www.tzvsz.hr
Varaždin: Aquacity –
Varaždin Sea
The baroque town of Varaždin, popular for its rich cultural facilities and a
unique atmosphere, has supplemented its tourist assets with another one –
the Varaždin Sea, a sport & recreation center including two lakes and the
Aquacity Beach, which was awarded within the Croatian National Tourist
Board’s campaign for the tidiest continental beach.
The Sport & Recreation Center Aquacity has facilities for divers and
yachtsmen on the big lake, while fishermen can enjoy themselves on the small
lake. The center also includes six tennis courts and three courts under a
balloon for tennis in wintertime. In addition to tennis courts, the center
has courts for other sports such as football, handball, beach volley, etc.
The level of development and facilities of the beach are confirmed by the
fact that it has flown the International Blue Flag for six consecutive
years. The beach is adapted to disabled persons and offers many facilities.
A separate part of the swimming area is intended for non-swimmers and there
are also special playgrounds for children. The catering facilities are also
a common reason for visitors to come thanks to a rich gastro offer and the
magnificent nature and landscaping, making Aquacity a popular excursion
destination for both the residents of Varaždin and anyyone passing through
the region.
Varaždin County Tourist Board
www.turizam-vzz.hr
Varaždin Tourist Board
www.tourism-varazdin.hr
SRC Aquacity
www.aquacity.hr
Hrvatsko zagorje:
Centuries-old lime-trees – a tourist attraction
The old lime-tree in Osredek not far from Desinić could soon become a
protected natural value. However, the procedure will be just another
argument in the existing interest in centuries-old lime-trees among the
residents of Hrvatsko zagorje and their guests.
The lime-tree in Osredek, which is assumed to have been planted in 1863, is
21 meters tall, has a perimeter of 489 centimeters and, according to
Croatian and German experts, is among the most beautiful specimens of
small-leaved lime. They also determined the lime-tree was vital and its
trunk was stable – the care measures to be applied will surely contribute to
its health.
In addition to this one, there are several more particularly beautiful
lime-trees in Hrvatsko zagorje. They certainly include the lime-trees next
to Bežanec Castle, next to Kulmer Castle in Velika Ves, Chapel of Three
Kings, several lime-trees in Budinšćina and near Tuhelj, etc. However, the
most famous one is the Gubec Lime-tree, protected by the Nature Protection
Act in 1957 – it is 9 meters high, the trunk has a perimeter of 490
centimeters, and its characteristics make it both a natural value and a
historical monument. According to the legend, it is the only living witness
of the beginning of the Peasant Revolt in 1573, when Matija Gubec, leader of
the revolt, gathered his followers under it.
Although one of the smaller counties in Northwest Croatia, Krapina-Zagorje
County has 6211.5 hectares under protection or 5.1 percent of its overall
area, including 27% of the Medvednica Nature Park, 2 significant landscapes,
4 natural monuments and several park architecture monuments. In addition to
the protected areas, several dozen of endangered flora and fauna species can
be found here. As the region is also interesting for a high concentration of
castles, numerous cultural & historical monuments, wine roads and excellent
gastronomy, there are many reasons to visit and enjoy a pleasant holiday.
Krapina-Zagorje County Tourist Board
www.tz-zagorje.hr
US IN THE WORLD
World Handball Championship:
Sport and tourism hand in hand
16 January to 1 February, Croatia will host the 21st Men’s World Handball
Championship Croatia 2009 to be held in several cities: Zagreb, Zadar,
Split, Osijek, Varaždin, Poreč and Pula. Sport halls, most of them
multipurpose, are built for the occasion and will be opened during December,
ready to receive the best handball players from the entire world.
As major sporting events like this always have a tourist angle, it is quite
clear Croatia will present itself as an excellent host in this segment as
well. The event was preceded by the Croatian Handball & Tourism Days in
November, during which the Croatian tourist offer was presented in 13
countries participating in the championship, namely in the cities such as
Budapest, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Bucharest, Moscow, Warsaw, Belgrade,
Madrid, Skopje, Paris, Frankfurt and Seoul. The presentation included press
conferences, presenting the Croatian tourist offer to the invited guests and
business partners with emphasis on the cities where matches will be played.
This was also an opportunity to try the Croatian wine & gastro offer and see
an entertainment program featuring prominent Croatian artists.
The presentations were aimed to send a special invitation to business
partners and guests and express a welcome to be felt by the athletes and
guests in both the host cities and across the country.
Croatian National Tourist Board
www.croatia.hr
Croatian Handball Federation
www.hrs.hr
www.croatia2009.com
Guardian & Observer Travel Awards 2008: Croatia – the third most desirable
European travel destination
Croatia took the third place in the contest for the best European travel
destinations. This was the opinion of over 17,000 readers of the Guardian
and Observer dailies in a survey that has been carried out for 22 years in a
row. The success of Croatian tourism is that much greater considering the
fact that Croatia jumped from the 10th place to the third in a just year,
right after Switzerland in the first place and Sweden in the second place,
leaving Austria and Italy behind. The presentation of the Guardian &
Observer Travel Awards 2008 was held in mid-October in Morocco with over 120
representatives of the travel industry, advertisers and journalist teams.
Guardian and Observer have around 1.3 million readers combined.
Guardian
www.guardian.co.uk
Croatian National Tourist Board
info@croatia-london.co.uk
www.croatia.hr
Island of Cres: Camp Slatina
wins a valuable award
Camp Slatina, operating with Jadranka kampovi headquartered in Mali Lošinj,
won a high award for innovative environmental protection ideas at a
specialized camping fair in Lyon.
The camp is situated in Martinšćica on the island of Cres, and is known in
both Croatian and international circles for its unique solutions, the most
interesting among them being the Camping Cum Cane project. The essence of it
is in creation of coexistence between the guests arriving with their dogs
and other guests staying in the same camp. Mutual tolerance is based on
creation of conditions for dogs in the camp without interfering with other
guests. This is enabled by the rules – all registered dogs must wear id
tags, there is a designated toilet area and the dog owners must comply with
the rules of hygiene in the camp. The camp also provides a dog shower area
and a dog promenade. Camp Slatina also applies other innovative
environmental protection solutions, while the introduction of the ISO 9001
standard, determining and implementing quality standards, and the ISO 14001
environmental protection standard, played an important role in the
presentation of the award.
The value added to this award is the fact that the camp award comes from the
French travel market for the first time. As of this year, the rich
facilities in the camp have been supplemented by additional ones such as
bathroom facilities for children, diaper-changing area, family bathrooms for
rent, ironing area and many other facilities.
Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Tourist Board
www.kvarner.hr
Jadranka kampovi
www.jadranka.hr
Culinary Olympics: bronze
for Croatian chefs
The very first appearance of the Croatian team at the Culinary Olympics held
in the German town of Erfurt won them bronze in the Restaurant Menu
category. The explanation for the award, won among a competition of 1600
chefs from 57 countries, was: excellent organization, original dishes and
natural flavor.
The Croatian team was led by Branko Ognjenović, chef in Restaurant Bon
Apetit in Zagreb, while the other members were Marija Kuzminski of Hotel
Turist in Varaždin, Miroslav Dolovčak of Restaurant Plato in Zagreb, Hrvoje
Zirojević of Restaurant Nevera in Split, Davor Capan of Hotel Novi in Novi
Vinodolski, Berislav Lacković of Restaurant Bon Apetit in Zagreb, and Jakša
Džaja of Hotel Adriana in Hvar.
The Restaurant Menu category includes preparation of 110 three-course meals
– entrée, main course and dessert. The rating did not only include the final
product, but the entire preparation process. The Croatian victorious menu
was based on dishes prepared from traditional autochthonous ingredients, so
the Croatian culinary team proved it belonged to the very elite of global
gastronomy.
Croatian Culinary Federation
www.kuhar.hr
Split: Hotel Le Meridien Lav
awarded in three categories
Hotel Le Meridien Lav, situated eight kilometers south of Split, won three
World Travel Resort awards as the leading European conference hotel, the
leading Croatian hotel and the leading Croatian spa hotel. The awards are
even more appreciated seeing as Hotel Le Meridien Lav won them among a very
strong global competition, in all three categories for which it was
nominated. The Lav hotel resort, including Hotel Le Meridien Lav (5 stars),
was opened in late 2006 and has 381 accommodation units. The surface area of
the facilities within the hotel resort is around 60,000 square meters, while
the green areas, promenades, beaches and a large luxurious marina stretch
over 40,000 square meters. The hotel resort offers rich facilities including
congress facilities, an entertainment center with a casino, a marina with up
to 80 moorings, health and recreation facilities, etc. The hotel contains
the Diocletian Spa covering an area of 3000 square meters and offering
numerous amenities. The leaders of Hotel Le Meridien Lav were presented with
the World Travel Awards at a formal ceremony held in Poprad Aquacity Resort,
Slovakia.
Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board
www.dalmatia.hr
Le Meridien Lav
www.lemeridien.com/split
Dubrovnik: Dubrovnik Gardens
of the Sun open in July of 2009
In early July of 2009, an elite 5-star resort called Dubrovnik Gardens of
the Sun (Dubrovački vrtovi sunca) will open in Orašac near Dubrovnik. The
investor in the project is a joint-venture of Hidrocommerce and Jupiter
Adria, and the value of the investment is 170 million euros. The project is
expected to additionally enrich the offer in the Dubrovnik region and
contribute to the realization of year-round tourism with its facilities.
The first phase will include a Radisson SAS hotel with 210 rooms and 207
suites, a congress center with ten halls seating one thousand people, a
wellness center, a sports center stretching over 7000 square meters, and
three outdoor pools. Radisson SAS brand management is also included in the
current phase of construction and preparation of the facility for the market
to ensure operation to their standards. In the designing and completion of
the facilities, special attention is paid to the interior design and
decoration of the hotels, residences and lounge bars provided by the
renowned resort design company - Hirsch Bedner Associates. The second phase
of construction, scheduled for completion in 2010, provides for construction
and opening of Hotel Regent with 130 rooms.
According to the investor, the catering facilities within Dubrovnik Gardens
of the Sun will be inspired by the characteristics of the local area.
Offering the guests experiential tourism, they will have the opportunity to
participate in seasonal activities with the locals, such as olive picking,
grape harvest, fishing… The resort will put on numerous events and, thanks
to the permanent boat connections, the cultural and other landmarks of the
famous City of Dubrovnik will be available to the guests.
The globally renowned hotel management company Rezidor Group was engaged to
operate the entire resort and will be responsible to ensure efficient
operation of the hotel upon its opening with several months of preparation
in all segments of hotel operation, including the pre-opening phase.
It is important to mention that 800 to 900 people will be employed in this
elite tourist resort. The locals will have preferential treatment, although
it is expected that some of the staff will be recruited from other parts of
Croatia.
Dubrovnik-Neretva County Tourist Board
www.visitdubrovnik.hr
NEWS
JATA: Increasing interest in
Croatian tourism among the Japanese
In November, members of the Executive Board of the Japanese Association of
Travel Agencies stayed in Croatia where they held their annual Executive
Board meeting. After their working meeting, the Japanese guests visited
Zagreb, National Park Plitvice Lakes, Rovinj, Opatija, Rijeka, Vrbnik,
Crikvenica, Trogir, Split, Ston, Cavtat, Konavle and Dubrovnik.
The inspection tour of Croatia for 19 JATA representatives was arranged by
the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Japanese guests met with the key
stakeholders in the tourist offer in all destinations. For example, in
Zagreb they were acquainted with the Croatian and Zagreb’s tourist offer in
the presence of the leaders of national and city tourist institutions. As it
happens, the number of Japanese tourists visiting the City of Zagreb has
grown over the past few years, reaching number three. The Zagreb Tourist
Board prepared a special film for them entitled Japan in Zagreb, showing how
both the Japanese guests and Japanese living in Zagreb experience the
capital city of the country. According to their words and tourist employees’
analyses, they think the Uptown is particularly interesting, they like to
visit contemporary and naďve art exhibitions in museums, often visit the
Botanical garden, and are delighted with the parks and the natural landscape
in the city. Last year, 83 thousand Japanese visited Croatia and had 127
thousand overnights. Croatian tourist employees expect the visit from the
members of JATA Executive Board and their acquaintance with the country’s
tourist offer will contribute to further growth in arrival of Japanese
tourists.
Croatian National Tourist Board
www.croatia.hr
35th anniversary of Hotel
Croatia marked by reconstruction and awards
In late October, Hotel Croatia in Cavtat, one of the best Croatian hotels,
was awarded the international food safety certificate ISO 22000 after being
awarded the quality management certificate ISO 9001 at the beginning of this
year’s season. This formally confirmed the quality of the hotel, of which
many guests, congress planners and participants and others have been
convinced during the 35 years of its existence. The process for awarding of
both certificates was carried out by the Quality Superintending Company (ZIK
Zagreb), while the Bureau Veritas certification company performed a
professional audit and awarded the certificates to Hotel Croatia.
Hotel Croatia celebrated its anniversary in the best possible way: by an
investment in reconstruction of its accommodation capacities worth 14
million euros. As all common areas within the hotel have recently been
reconstructed, a wellness facility has been built, and the congress halls
have been equipped according to the international trends, this 35-year-old
receives its guests in a whole new edition.
The distinctive quality of the hotel is confirmed by numerous awards. This
year, the rich collection of Croatia’s awards was supplemented by a Golden
Meridian award for the best hotel in Croatia as selected by Russian tourists
and a professional jury comprising representatives of Russian travel media,
tour operators and specialized business travel agencies.
A number of Croatian hotels were nominated for the prestigious contest
arranged by the Russian Travel Award, and Hotel Croatia took the first place
among three best ranked hotels that reached the finals. Golden Meridian is a
symbol of service quality, established by the Russian Travel Award to
recognize and award the best service in the travel industry. It is held on
an annual basis in Moscow, awarding service excellence as selected by
Russian guests and travel experts. Hotel Croatia won the 2008 gold medal
from the British tour operator Thomson Holidays in The Best Thomson Summer
TTTT Accommodation category. This is the fourth consecutive year Hotel
Croatia wins this prestigious award presented by the largest British tour
operator, based on the results of a guest satisfaction survey.
Situated in the beautiful tourist center of Cavtat near Dubrovnik, Hotel
Croatia has 480 rooms and 7 suites, eight congress halls, a new wellness
center and numerous other catering, entertainment and sport & recreation
facilities.
Dubrovnik-Neretva County Tourist Board
www.visitdubrovnik.hr
Hoteli Croatia
www.croatia.hr
Island of Rab: 2009 marked
by the 120th anniversary of organized tourism
The island of Rab is heading toward its 120th anniversary of organized
tourism with ambitious plans for reconstruction of tourist facilities,
implementation of infrastructural projects and a rich celebratory program
that will surely interest and delight many lovers of this special island of
rich culture, customs and a quality tourist offer.
In 1889, the Rab Municipal Council proclaimed Rab a tourist destination and
a health resort, which was a logical combination of the natural wealth, mild
climate and hospitable locals. Not long after the decision, they began to
build the first inns and hotels, and tourist boats began to arrive in Rab
Port. Since that time, the island has experienced intensive tourist
development and it now has a rich hotel & catering offer and provides the
guests with extensive cultural, entertainment and sport & recreation
facilities in a unique ambient. Although the celebration program has yet to
be defined, it is already quite clear that the year 2009 will be marked by
this significant anniversary, including a scientific conference, a workshop,
a formal meeting and a promotional film dedicated to the 120th anniversary
of organized tourism. They also plan to arrange programs that will
particularly please the tourists and the residents of the island. In
addition to the traditional performances by the Rapski Tanac Folklore
Society and Rab Crossbowmen, the program will include a series of cultural,
entertainment and sporting programs intended equally for all generations.
The planned infrastructural works on the island will surely contribute to
the festive atmosphere. They have announced construction of Stinica Ferry
Port, improvement of Rtić Beach, renovation of Hotel Imperial to the 4-star
standard, etc.
Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Tourist Board
www.kvarner.hr
Rab Tourist Board
www.tzg-rab.hr
INFRASTRUCTURE
Adriatic even closer to
tourists
The motorway network in Croatia is becoming longer and longer, so it is now
safe to say that this is a country having one of the most developed road
infrastructures in Europe. The construction of the remaining
14.5-kilometer-long sections of the Zagreb-Rijeka Motorway contributed to
this – in October, the construction of the full profile of the motorway
connecting the Croatian capital with Rijeka was completed. Thanks to this,
tourists arriving by road in the North Adriatic from European countries will
have a more pleasant and faster trip than ever. In addition, the wooded and
increasingly interesting Gorski Kotar, the Croatian capital city of Zagreb
and other continental destinations are now even closer to guests taking
their holidays in the North Adriatic, so they will be able to enjoy an even
more extensive excursion program.
The length of the Zagreb-Rijeka Motorway is 146.4 kilometers and it only
takes 1 hour and fifteen minutes to travel the distance between the two
cities. The motorway has 13 tunnels of the overall length of 10.3 kilometers
and six bridges of 1.7 kilometers.
The Zagreb-Rijeka Motorway is part of the European E65 route and part of the
pan-European 5b corridor going via Zagreb to the border crossing with
Hungary (Goričan) and further to Budapest. Concurrently with the opening of
the remaining part of the Zagreb-Rijeka Motorway, the section between the
Goričan border crossing on the Croatian side and the Letenye border crossing
on the Hungarian side and the bridge on Mura were opened, thanks to which
the full-profile motorway now connects Budapest and Rijeka.
The motorway stretches for 263.7 kilometers in Croatia. In Hungary, where
intensive work has also been done on its construction, the motorway is 232.5
kilometers long. Tourists from Budapest will now be able to reach the
Croatian Adriatic in less than five hours by car, which will surely be
another reason for the traditionally numerous tourists from Central and
Eastern Europe to visit Croatia.
Autocesta Rijeka-Zagreb
www.arz.hr
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