Sunflower of Croatian rural tourism: Golden Charter in Vukovar-Srijem County

On February 28, 2023, the Croatian Association for Tourism and Rural Development "Club of Members of the Village" awarded 70 charters and special awards, as part of the national award "Sunflower of rural tourism in Croatia - Sunflower Award", which has been held for the tenth year.

The Royal Hotel in Opatija hosted the event, and the President of the Association, Dijana Katica, also marked the 25th anniversary of the Association's activities on this occasion. A total of 161 candidates from 18 Croatian counties were registered, and for the first time, under the auspices of the Central State Office for Croats outside the Republic of Croatia, 16 applicants from Bosnia and Herzegovina are also joining. The co-organizer of the event was the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, since last year the largest number of awards were won by candidates from this county. 

Until the very end, the competition was very uncertain between Zagreb County, the most numerous in terms of the number of awards won (7) and Osijek-Baranja County (6), but due to the greater number of gold awards and charters, as well as the Golden Sunflower championship title, which was won by the Municipality of Kneževi Vinogradi , the next election for the Sunflower Award will be held in Osijek-Baranja County.

The Vukovar-Srijem County is IN again this year 

Adrenaline Park Bosut Rokovci - Andrijaševci is the winner of the golden charter in the category "Active tourist facilities in rural areas". An exceptional award for dedicated work and the development of outdoor activities, as well as teamwork to strengthen Andrijaševac and the Vukovar-Srijem County as a top destination of Croatian continental tourism. 

The silver certificate in the category "Traditional (rural) households" was won by Šokačka Lady Holiday House from Županja, and another silver certificate in the category "Rural tourism projects" went to Županja for the event Šokačka sijelo. Bronze charter  in the "Rural tourism projects" category, Tenarski susreti, association "Šokadija Babina Greda" won. A special award for the preservation of the beekeeping tradition and the beekeeping ethno-collection in the category "Rural tourism projects" was presented to OPG Pčelarstvo Knežević for the Beekeeping Museum in Šiškovci.

"We are extremely proud of the winners from the area of ​​Vukovar - Srijem County and send our most sincere congratulations to all winners in all categories. Special thanks to Mrs. Dijana Katica for many years of work in recognition, motivation, education and promotion of all stakeholders in the development of rural tourism in Croatia. Let us continue to be loyal to all the tourism values ​​of Croatia and persistent in their development for the permanent benefit of our valuable citizens and our irresistibly beautiful and immeasurably rich homeland. Let us continue to be loyal to all the tourism values ​​of Croatia and persistent in their development for the permanent benefit of our valuable citizens and our irresistibly beautiful and immeasurably rich homeland. " she stated Majda Jakša, director of the TZ of the Vukovar-Srijem County. 

The Suncokret award for rural tourism in Croatia is a project that once a year evaluates and presents traditional content, preserves authenticity and connects participants in rural tourism, and is awarded in eight categories: tourist farms, traditional households, traditional gastronomy, wine and craft tourism, active tourist facilities in rural areas, rural tourism projects, as well as those with protected and marketing marks. In addition to one championship award, gold, silver and bronze certificates and special recognitions, divided by category, were awarded.

Photo: TZ VSŽ