The summer travel season is nigh, and one popular European tourism destination couldn't be more ready and eager to welcome international visitors after living with pandemic-prompted travel restrictions and lockdowns for more than a year now.
A culturally rich destination situated where Central and Southeastern Europe converge, Croatia has become highly dependent on its international tourism revenue, which typically accounts for around 20 percent of its annual GDP. The most popular cities located along the country's astonishing Adriatic coast-such as the picturesque, walled medieval city of Dubrovnik or Rovinj, with its quaint cobblestone streets and pebble beaches-depend almost entirely on tourism dollars.
According to an Associated Press report, the mood among tourism workers on the ground is optimistic, as they reopen the region's resort areas and once again set out the sun loungers, open the beach bars and restore restaurants and hotels to full operation.
In fact, Croatia has already mostly reopened the areas along its spectacular Adriatic coastline to foreign tourists, making it one of Europe's first countries to lift most of its COVID-19 measures. The Balkan nation was also among the first to waive travel requirements for fully vaccinated foreign travelers in early April.
Croatia is allowing entry to tourists from most of Europe, as well as from the U.S. and other non-E.U. countries, who have their vaccination certificate, arrive with a negative approved COVID-19 test in hand or have recovered from a confirmed case of the virus within the past six months.
While its policies might be designed to allow and encourage the arrival of international tourists this summer, actual visitor volumes this year will largely depend upon the regulations in travelers' countries of origin.
Fortunately, infection rates in Croatia are dropping and, while the country's vaccine rollout was slow to begin, vaccinations are picking up speed. The country's roughly 80,000 tourism workers are given priority to receive COVID-19 vaccines, and officials have estimated that around half of Croatia's population of four million people will be fully vaccinated by the time mid-summer arrives.
Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac said that the ministry would be installing several PCR testing stations so that international travelers can more easily access the testing they'll need in order to return to their home countries.
"It is our duty to provide all the prerequisites for a safe and comfortable trip, as well as predictable vacation planning," she said during a recent webinar. "In that sense, Croatia is among the first, if not the first, European destination that already applies broader criteria for tourist visits, the same ones that should soon be applied at the E.U."
Croatian tourism officials reportedly expect to see an influx of American visitors arriving this summer, especially once planned nonstop routes between New York and Dubrovnik start flying at the start of July.
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