The first presentation of Croatian tourism in Latin America: a country with over 250.000 people of Croat origin

Croatian tourist agency in the center of Chile, in a Croatian club Estadio Croata, held a special presentation of the entire Croatian tourist offer.

The presentation is organized as part of 28. Catad'Ora, the most prestigious and popular wine competition and judging of wines and spirits in Latin America, which takes place in Santiago de Chile and where Croatia po for the first time ima status Partner countries.

Although all the riches of Croatian tourism were presented, the special focus of the presentation, held for 70 of the most important Chilean tour operators, agents, travel journalists and travel bloggers, was placed on nautical tourism, the indented coastline, the cleanliness of the sea, untouched nature, but also on the safety of Croatia as a tourist destination. and excellent food and wine.

They presented the national tourist offer Kristjan Staničić, director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Tomislav Fain, director of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies and Tomislav Radoš, vice president of HGK for industry and sustainable development, while she greeted the gathered participants at the beginning of the event Mira Martinec, ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Chile.

"Catad'Or is an opportunity to present our top wines, but also Croatia as a popular and desirable tourist destination in the Mediterranean. On a global level, Croatia is increasingly recognized as a safe holiday destination, however, we are also increasingly recognized as a high-quality wine and gastronomic destination. The country's status as a partner at the prestigious Catad'Or provided an opportunity for an additional step forward in presenting our tourist offer in this distant market with great potential, especially when we know the number of the highly valued Croatian diaspora in Chile and throughout Latin America. I believe that with this we have brought our country even closer to all of them, which, as we have seen here, is very much loved even from a distance", said the director Stanicic, adding that he believes that many Croats, who are not yet Croats, will come to our country and learn about the destinations of their ancestors.   

When we talk about distant markets and travel agencies, according to the words Tomislav Fain from UHPA, interest in Croatian destinations is not waning despite all the global challenges. "Our country is globally recognized for the various aspects of the tourist offer that make our country a recognizable and attractive tourist destination. It is very important for agencies to recognize the preferences of each individual market in order to create offers that will match the interests of the travelers we want to attract to Croatian destinations", he stressed Fain.  

Positive trends from the Chilean market are also confirmed by the data of the eVisitor system, according to which over 15.000 arrivals and 46.000 overnight stays have been achieved from this market so far this year, which represents an increase of 18 percent in arrivals and 13 percent in overnight stays compared to the same period last year.

"The potential for even better and stronger economic cooperation between the countries of Latin America and Croatia certainly exists, especially in the fields of energy, pharmaceuticals, IT, food and electrical industry, but also tourism. Opening up new business opportunities is a necessary step in strengthening tourist flows between countries, as well as the economy in general", He said Rados from HGK.

Chile is a country with over 250.000 people of Croat origin

The presentation of Croatian tourism in Chile has already made a significant and very positive step forward in bringing Croatia closer together, she emphasized Mira Martinec, ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Chile and added: 

"The possibilities offered by Croatia as a Mediterranean-continental tourist destination in the heart of Europe are numerous. This activity of HTZ will surely result in significant interest of this large market, also due to the fact that the presentation was made in front of a large number of representatives of various activities in the tourism industry. Chile does not have a single major tourist fair, so it is important to get closer to that large and underexplored tourist pool, where lies the potential of clients who can and want to afford interesting summer vacations in faraway places. Also, this is a country with over 250.000 people of Croat origin, who are emotionally attached to the land of their ancestors, which they gladly visit as a family in groups of 20 or more family members., she concluded Martinec. 

Competition Catad'Or in Santiago de Chile has been held since 1995, and at this year's edition a total of 1.300 samples from 20 countries were evaluated. With the support of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the Kutjevo, Badel 1862, Jako vino and Agrolaguna wineries, as well as representatives of regional organizations in Croatia, will be presented at this year's edition of the Catad'Or World Wine Awards event. 41 samples of wine (17 white, 20 red, 1 rose and 3 sparkling) and seven samples of distillates were sent from our country. 

Photo: HTZ