“Experience local. Explore rural Croatia!” – promotion of Croatian rural destinations  

The aim of the campaign is to promote the rich offer of Croatian rural destinations

After the excellent promotional results achieved during last year’s implementation of the national campaign “Experience local. Explore rural Croatia!”, this year the Croatian Tourist Board in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports continues with activities to promote the diverse offer of Croatian rural destinations with a focus on the domestic market.

As part of the first wave of this year’s campaign, which will last from May to the end of July and includes seven thematic videos, all the attractions of rural destinations around Zadar, Varaždin region, Split-Dalmatia County, stretch from Bilogora to Zagreb, Podravina, Šibenik and Knin, but also Gorski kotar.

“The COVID pandemic has also brought about certain changes in the habits of travel enthusiasts who are more than ever looking for quality, authenticity, sustainability and safety. They also want to get to know lesser-known destinations, as well as the culture of life of the local population. We recognise and respect these trends and highlight them as part of this campaign, which achieved excellent promotional effects last year. This is confirmed by the tourist traffic in continental rural areas, whose growth of 40 percent so far this year is the result, among other things, of promotional activities. Also, this year’s campaign, in addition to the domestic market, will be used in the promotion of neighbouring, foreign markets,” said the director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić, adding that the second wave of the campaign will be conducted in the period from September to October. 

The face of this successful campaign is the well-known host Doris Pinčić, and interesting video materials aim to promote this product, which offers the possibility of a holiday in pure nature, but also home-grown food, unique experiences, indigenous experiences and quality service.

“Rural parts of Croatia provide authentic content to both domestic and foreign tourists throughout the year. All research confirms that the travel habits of modern tourists are changing and the percentage of those who want to travel more sustainably is increasing. This means increased interest in traveling outside the main part of the year, increased interest in caring for the environment of the destination and connecting with the local population. Also, it is becoming important for tourists to leave their “green mark” or make their place of residence better than they found it. That is why the continuation of the campaign “Experience local. Explore rural Croatia!” is extremely important because in addition to the promotional part, it also contributes to our strategic goal of developing Croatia as a sustainable tourist destination,” said the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac. 

The campaign is aimed at promoting certain content in tourist regions, and a “best off” video will be created, which will contain the best shots of recorded material from all these destinations.

The campaign will be conducted on online and offline communication channels and through the social networks Croatia, Full of Life with the hashtags #RuralnaHrvatska and #DoživiDomaće.