The headquarters for safety and security during the tourism season, which is located in the Adriatic city of Zadar, is functioning well and the police have prevented a large number of incidents, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said on Thursday opening the 3rd international conference - Security of Historical Cities 2019 in Solin.

The headquarters was established two years ago in Zadar with the aim of coordinating and harmonising the activities conducted by police administrations and other agencies in implementing security measures during the peak tourist season from June to September.

“The security of historical cities is of particular significance for Croatia considering that we are a tourist country and have an entire series of cities, each of which are a history in themselves. I am pleased that this conference has an international nature because through the exchange of experiences, we can find a model of how to protect our heritage and improve security during the summer months when there are the most tourists,” Bozinovic said.

“This year we will have more than 20 million tourists and that sets yet another task on the Interior Ministry,” he underscored.

It is excellent that we have a large number of visitors as that gives a huge contribution to our budget and openness, on the other hand, where there are a lot of people, there is a possibility that the police will have to act more frequently.

“Two years ago we established the headquarters for safety and security concerns during the tourism season which functions exceptionally well and operates according to instructions received from the police directorate, which means they endeavour to prevent as many incidents as possible,” said Bozinovic.

This year, the project called “Safe Tourist Season 2019” involved 95 police officers from 19 countries who helped their Croatian counterparts in the destinations popular for their respective compatriots.