Largest tourist fair in Bavaria, where Croatia is a partner, has opened

Alkari (Photo: HTZ)

Minister Brnjac and director Staničić attended the opening

Today, the tourism fair f.re.e, the largest international tourism fair in Bavaria, was officially opened in Munich, where this year’s partner country is Croatia. 

The fair will be open until February 26, around 120,000 visitors are expected, and in addition to the Croatian Tourist Board as the main exhibitor, 27 Croatian co-exhibitors, i.e. hoteliers, agencies, transport companies, as well as tourist boards, will present their offer as part of the Croatian stand. among which are the tourist boards of Kvarner, Split-Dalmatia County, Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Šibenik-Knin County, the Zadar County, Karlovac County, Lika-Senj County and others.

“We are located in the most important market for Croatian tourism, Germany, from which we traditionally have the largest number of tourist arrivals and overnight stays. Our performance and status of Croatia as a partner country is even more important if we know that the largest number of German guests come from Bavaria. This is an exceptional opportunity for us to further highlight and promote Croatian destinations, but also a great opportunity to meet with the most important partners such as ADAC, whose representatives emphasized that Croatia is one of the favorite and most popular foreign destinations of Germans,” said Kristjan Staničić, Director of Croatian Tourist Board.

The fair opens (Photo: HTZ)

Along with Staničić, Nikolina Brnjac, Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, Reinhard Pfeiffer, Director of the f.re.e Fair, Dieter Reiter, Mayor of Munich, Sabine Jarothe from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, State Development and Energy attended the opening ceremony of the fair.

“The German market is extremely important to us, and that is why our goal is to strengthen our position, but also to upgrade it in the context of the year-round trip of Germans to Croatia, also bearing in mind the trends that have crystallized in the last two years, as well as the long-term trend of sustainability. We entered this year with two major innovations that will make traveling from Germany easier, namely the use of the common European currency, the euro, and entry into the Schengen zone. We especially emphasized this through the motto of the performance here in Munich – Croatia has never been closer, because we believe that these benefits will further encourage German tourists to take shorter trips outside the summer season. This presentation also follows the guidelines of our new Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy until 2030, because through this presentation concept we want to ensure the year-round interest of German tourists in all Croatian regions and various tourist products,” Minister Brnjac said.

Delegation arrives at the Croatian stand

The program of the opening of the fair was enriched by the performance of Alkar and Alkar men, who took a formation at the main entrance with an appropriate musical stage performance, which also included majorettes from Sinj. Then the official delegation, joined by Nera Miličić, head of the HTZ Branch in Munich and Vladimir Duvnjak, Consul General of the Republic of Croatia in Munich, went on a tour of the fair, that is, to the Croatian stand where they were welcomed by the Alkar contingent, and were served and presented traditional Croatian food and wine delicacies.

During the first day of the fair, meetings were held with the most important partners, while the Croatian national airline Croatia Airlines presented the summer flight schedule for 2023, in which the introduction of a new seasonal line that will connect Munich and Bol on the island of Brač stands out. Overall, during the tourist season, Croatia Airlines plans will connect Croatia with 22 international destinations, i.e. 23 European airports, and the planes will fly on 47 international routes.

Vladimir Duvnjak Kristjan Staničić, Nikolina Brnjac, Luka Burilović (Photo: HTZ)

During all five days of the fair, the program will be enriched with numerous performances, presentations and tastings through which the visitors will be introduced to the extremely diverse cultural and historical heritage and rich eno-gastronomy of all Croatian regions and regions, from the coast to the interior of our country, while during on the first two days of the fair, the presentation of various Croatian cheeses and wines with a sommelier was provided by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.

The f.re.e fair has been held in Munich for more than 50 years, and this year’s edition of the fair is the first that, after two pandemic years, is being held again in full format and without any restrictions, so there are about a thousand exhibitors from the 70s at the fair countries, which present their tourist offers with special emphasis on travel, camping and outdoor activities.