Croatia is an undiscovered jewel of Europe for American tourists. Pointers Travel opened an office in New York

I opened an office on 7th Avenue and there we are starting activities, i.e. promoting Croatia on the American market, he says with a proud voice. Krunoslav Weinpert, founder and owner of DMC agency Pointers travel from Osijek. 

And there is reason to be proud, because for an agency from Croatia to have an office in New York is a very significant thing and a great success, as well as a challenge. It's one thing to come to a tourist fair for a couple of days, and quite another to be present at the market itself every day.

"We are starting with one project for all tourist associations in Croatia. It is a project that unifies the presentation of Croatia as a tourist destination to more than 2.000 agents in America. According to them, we will present tourist destinations through 4 regions plus "Best of Croatia". Education will be held for agents, 45-minute, 60-minute, special for the regions of Croatia to all those travel agents in America." says Weinpert.

The decision to open an office did not come overnight. Pointers travel has been working on market opening for the last five years, and they have been to various fairs in America during that period. The opening of the office turned out to be a logical sequence, and surely American agents look differently when the agency is present in America. 

"We have now appeared on the American market for the 10th time - last year at 5 fairs, this year at two fairs, before that with HTZ. We were there even before the corona virus. We already have two fairs arranged for next year. Next year we are going to Chicago and New York, the contracts have already been signed. Opening an office in NY immediately turned out to be a great move. We immediately saw at the fair that it changes a lot. Travel agents and companies prefer to work with a company from the USA. I can to say that these are extremely large investments. So far, attending 7 trade fairs plus the ones before and exhibiting in the last two years on the American market was a very large investment. We had some support from the EU, but we really took off our clothes - not only financially, but also with energy." points out Weinpert and emphasizes that, according to their experience, American agents are extremely interested in Croatia. 

"Croatia is becoming one of the top three locations in Europe for the American market, and we realized that they need to be introduced to Croatia, much more than they are currently. They know some information, but they don't know in detail. Given that Pointers has more than 400 videos, we work with more than 150 tourist boards all over Croatia, the decision is to go towards agents with such an approach. Also, we will go with PR activities on the American market and online campaigns, all kinds - adverts, Facebook campaigns and PR articles on the American market ." states Weinpert.

Focus on the pre- and mid-season: Americans do not want to go to Croatia in the peak of the season

Another sector that Pointers travel will cover is strategic assistance to tourist communities. Again, it is one thing to rent advertising space in a medium, and quite another to have partners who are on the market, represent and know the market best. This is an advantage that every tourist board should take full advantage of, if it communicates with the American market. 

When asked what cooperation with tourism associations will look like, Weinpert states three directions. 

"We give the tourist boards the opportunity to be our partners in the project and in that way present them the tourist destination, the special features of the destination and what is very important. In this way we want to fill the pre-season and post-season, because Americans don't want to come when peak season, that is not interesting to them. Second, we bring them guests with high paying power. We try to make sure that the events in which they invest significant funds are well attended, that they are sufficiently present in the American media and presented to agents, as if we are "selling" them new contents of their destinations. For example, if a destination has invested in cycling or hiking in recent years, then we will focus on what they have invested in. This is how we give tourism boards the opportunity to cooperate."

The project officially starts on 10.3. with the arrival of the first American agents in Croatia. These are agents who own companies in America and the Emirates and cover the markets of America, the Emirates and India.

"They want to come, they have 5 days at their disposal, and their entire tour of Croatia this time starts from Baranja. We start from Baranja, Osijek, the rest of Slavonia and then we go via Zlatni Papuk, Velika, through them further to Varaždin, then Biser Zagorja, Zagreb, then Četiri Rijeka, Gorski kotar, Lika and Plitvice, then via Knin to Split and ending in Dubrovnik. One tour is to Umag to the Kampinski resort and a tour of Istrian wineries. We provide agents with study trips to Croatia, through which they get to know Croatia as a whole. What we will do now is to create more than 30 types of tourist packages for the whole of Croatia, there will be about 50 to 60 tourist packages and they will be handed over to agents in America for use. We provide agents with more than 10 photos, free of charge. These are photos that Pointers has been able to create together with tourist boards in the last 000 years, and we provide them with more than 7 videos of professional quality." explains Weinpert and adds that the benefit of what they have been doing in Croatia for the past seven years is finally being recognized.

The third segment, which is included in the entire project and is very important, is cooperation with hotels, restaurants, wineries and destination attractions. It is logically interesting for all of them to follow the route and defined itineraries according to the American agents.

"We go to the hotels in those destinations with which we cooperate, we go to quality restaurants, wineries and attractions, we offer them cooperation on an annual level, on a contractual basis, where we also present them and include them in tourist packages. We bring them agents to introduce them to all of this. I expect that by the end of the year, a large number of agents from America will come to Croatia, a few dozen, I don't know if it will reach about a hundred, but there will certainly be a lot of American agents in Croatia this year." points out Weinpert.

Croatia is an undiscovered jewel of Europe for American tourists

It is difficult to generalize, especially when we are talking about the American market, when asked what the perception of Croatia is on the American market, Weinpert emphasizes that there is great interest in Croatia.  

Americans want to avoid the biggest crowds in the peak season, they want a different way of vacation than lying on the beaches, Weinpert further explains and points out that American tourists are looking for a vacation where they want to taste and experience quality gastronomy, wine, and see natural and cultural sights.

"We got to know the American market well, saw that its potential is huge, that Croatia is well accepted, that our prices do not pose any problem for them and that they need much more in-depth information about Croatia. We push packages lasting 14 days, some 7 days of cruising the Adriatic and visiting the main points along the coast, and then the continent, via Zagreb to the east of Croatia. We do not work below that, nor does the market demand it, it simply does not make sense to come for a shorter period due to the length of the trip. We have to admit that the reason for coming and the brand is still stronger than the name of Croatia - Dubrovnik, followed by the Plitvice Lakes, food, nature, clear sea, wonderful people - these are the most commonly communicated. What has surprised us all these years is that people who have been to Croatia have such extremely positive emotions towards Croatia. Croatia is an undiscovered jewel of Europe for American tourists, which is starting to push hard alongside Greece, Italy, France, literally brutally beating their competition." Weinpert concluded.

So far, a large part of the work has already been done. Promotion has been done, promotional photo and video materials are available, direct contacts with American agents who come to Croatia and experience Croatia first hand, but the most important thing is to be constantly present on the American market.

By opening the Pointers Travel office, he took that big step forward and completed the whole story with strong foundations. Which is the first prerequisite for a more serious approach to a market, in this case the American market.  

Finally, if you want to be part of this project and your focus is on the American market, whether it is a tourist community or a hotel, restaurant or winery, contact Krunoslav Weinpert from Pointers Travel agency ( pointers.mainoffice@gmail.com ) or through the website: Pointers Travel