Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac, met with Czech Foreign Minister, Tomas Petricek, during his visit to Zagreb on Wednesday, discussing cooperation in tourism and sport, the coronavirus situation, and the Safe Stay in Croatia project.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, Brnjac said that Croatia continued to be a popular travel destination for Czech tourists even during the coronavirus pandemic.

Over 500,000 Czech tourists visited Croatia last year, generating more than 3.5 million overnight stays, Brnjac said.

She and Petricek agreed that the pandemic had significantly affected tourism and forever changed the travel industry’s paradigm. Speaking of green digital certificates, they said that those should not be discriminating against persons who cannot get vaccinated but should facilitate travel.

Brnjac presented the Safe Stay in Croatia project, saying that with it Croatia was trying to position itself as a safe and desirable destination on foreign markets. She said that health safety protocols were being put in place because protecting tourists’ health was a priority.

Both ministers said that vaccination in the tourism sector was very important, as well as testing of tourists at several points. In conclusion, they said that the two countries continued to foster good bilateral relations and cooperation in tourism and sport.

The meeting was also attended by Croatia’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Ljiljana Pancirov, the representative of the Czech and Slovak minorities in the Croatian Parliament, Vladimir Bilek, and the head of the Ministry’s Department for Tourist Boards, Monika Udovicic.