Croatian Tourism Minister Visits Iran to Drum Up Business

Croatian Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin has met with key Iranian tourism players during his official visit to the country this week…

Lorencin was in Iran to present Croatia’s tourism development strategy, and to discuss possible investment in Croatia’s tourism. After meeting the Vice-President and head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation (ICHTO), Masoud Soltanifar, Lorencicn also held talks with executives of Tehran-based private airline Mahan Air about the plans to launch a direct service between Iran and Croatia.

Lorencin also made his counterparts in Iran aware of the work Croatia was doing with regard to halal offerings in its hotels. Tourists of Islamic faith reportedly bring in over 130 billion USD, with Iran’s annual revenues from the tourist trade around 1 billion USD.

There are currently 20 Halal certified hotels and hospitality venues in Croatia, including among them Hotel Aristos, The Esplanade, Les Points and The Westin in Zagreb, Art in the eastern town of Slavonski Brod, Spacva in Lipovac, Turist in Varazdin and Baska on the island of Krk on the northern Adriatic coast. Apart from Halal food, hotel rooms need to provide conditions to practice religious rituals, have the south-east marked (direction which is faced during prayer time), and to make sure the mini-bars do not contain any alcoholic drinks.

Croatia currently has 15 Majlises, their locations being Dubrovnik, Gunja, Karlovac, Labin, Osijek, Porec, Pula, Rijeka, Sisak, Slavonski Brod, Split, Umag, Varazdin, Zadar and Zagreb. The country also has 3 Jama’at, located in Bogovolja, Maljevac and Vinkovci. (photo / Ministry of Tourism)