The Croatian government has developed a health label for companies welcoming the public, the Safe Stay In Croatia label, in the hope of reviving tourist activity within its territory during 2021 after a year 2020 which was complicated because of Covid 19.
Croatia has become one of the trendy destinations in Europe, with no less than 20.7 million tourists during 2019, an increase of 5% compared to the previous year. The country nevertheless experienced a significant drop in tourists numbers in 2020 due to the global health crisis, with the number of overnight stays halved. So to encourage travellers to cross borders again to come and discover the national cultural and natural heritage, the government has decided to introduce a health label.
The label in question is called Safe Stay In Croatia and is issued by Darko Lorencin, the Croatian Minister of Tourism and Sport. It aims at reassuring tourists that the sites they visit and the activities they carry out, comply with the health standards set up to combat Covid-19. In order to obtain this label, companies must therefore follow the current recommendations of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) as well as those of the Croatian National Institute of Public Health.
This label also has an educational character, as we want to make our visitors aware of the protocols and epidemiological measures implemented by the entire tourism industry to enable them to stay in our country with complete peace of mind.
Kristjan Stanicic, Director of the Croatian National Tourist Office.
In addition, a website is dedicated to the label so that tourists can find out before their trip which properties are certified or not. The label concerns several types of sites and services which are listed on the site such as attractions, accommodations, bars and restaurants, transports, water sports, leisure and health activities as well as tourist guides, travel agencies and tourist information centres. The site states that Croatia also benefits from the Safe Travels certification awarded by the WTTC.
With the development of this label, Croatia hopes to attract many tourists again by demonstrating that all the necessary health and safety measures are in place to welcome them in the best possible conditions. In order to achieve this, the National Tourist Office also plans to carry out promotional campaigns this month and in April aimed at their main outbound markets such as France and Germany. This health label initiative is reminiscent of the one recently created in the United Kingdom by the National Tourist Board, Visitbritain, le label We’re Good to Go.
