Eco Hvar

Ministry of Tourism Covid-19 Relief Measures

Published in Notices

Due to the effects of the Covid-19 virus, in 2020 the Ministry of Tourism announced financial relief measures for those engaged in the tourist industry.

Ministry of Tourism Covid-19 Relief Measures

FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT THE COVID VIRUS CLICK HERE.

The full text of the Ministry of Tourism Relief Measures is available on the Ministry website, but in Croatian only, although part of the website is translated into English. The information will certainly be of use to the many English-speakers renting out accommodation on Hvar and in Croatia generally. 

Tourist fee payment relief

Private renters will not have to pay the tourist fee lump sum (paušal); payment of any outstanding flexible part of the 2019 concession fee is cancelled, and payment for 2020 deferred; the relevant changes in the laws (NN 36/2020) can be seen on the following link (in Croatian): https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/full/2020_03_36_764.html

People offering tourist rentals in private accommodation and on family farms are excused half of the annual tourist fee for 2020 which would normally be due for the main bed and parking spot in a camp and holiday camp, or according to the capacity of 'Robinson' accommodation run in accordance with the special regulations governing tourist rental activities. Furthermore, tourist fee in 2020 for camp beds ('pomoćni kreveti') will not be charged.

These measures only apply to people offering accommodation in private properties and on privately owned farmland.

The aim is to soften the financial impact of the economic burden created by the Coronavirus epidemic. Because the tourist fee is administered per bed, rather than per night's stay, it is clearly unfair and untenable in the current situation.

The responsible authorities for these measures are the Ministry of Tourism and the Croatian Tourist Board. Information about the measures will be available through the eVisitor internet system. Further information can be obtained if needed from the Ministry of Tourism by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Payment of any outstanding amount due for the 2019 concession fee in respect of the use of tourist land in camps is waived, and the payment due for 2020 is deferred. The applicable law (NN 31/2020) can be seen (in Croatian) on the link: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/full/2020_03_31_674.html

In view of the exceptional situation caused by the Coronavirus, outstanding payments due for the 2019 concession fees for camps will be charged at 1 kn, and not at the standard rate, and payments due for the fixed concession fee for 2020 will be delayed from August 31st to November 30th 2020. The measure applies to commercial agencies offering tourist services on the basis of seeking concessions for camps on communal land in the Republic of Croatia according to the law (NN 92/10). Details of the charges will be made available by the Ministry of Tourism, and further information, if needed, can be obtained by email from the Ministry: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The same measures apply to those holding concessions on land owned by local authorities, and the applicable law (NN 41/2020) can be read (in Croatian) on the following link: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2020_04_41_853.html.

The Croatian Law on Providing Tourist Services (NN 42/2020 -887) has been amended and can be read (in Croatian) on the following link: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2020_04_42_887.html. The changes include the following:

- in order to prevent the operation of unregistered rental accommodation, internet sites must quote the tax identity number (OIB) of any advertiser offering tourist services in the Republic of Croatia;

- during this exceptional situation, tourist agencies will be allowed to employ people without the normal required certificates in order to keep operating, so that knowledge of foreign languages or Croatian do not have to be demonstrated, nor is it necessary for such employees to have a minimum of one year's experience in the tourist industry. These employees can remain in employment for a maximum of six months after the end of the special measures.

- contracts for package tours which were booked to take place after March 1st but cancelled are to be varied as following: the traveller has the right to cancel the package tour 180 days after the end of the exceptional situation caused by Coronavirus, and the tour operator must issue a voucher or moratorium on the cancellation of the contract for the same period; if the client decides on a refund, the tour operator must return the amount paid within 14 days after the period of 180 days following the end of the exceptional situation has elapsed.

- people providing tour guide services will no longer be entered into the Central register. This aims to allow more people to earn money from tourist services, such as students, pensioners or the unemployed.

The Law on Providing Accommodation Services has also been amended (NN 42/2020-888), and can be found (in Croatian) on the following link: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2020_04_42_888.html
The changes are as follows:

- temporary permits for rental premises will be extended to the end of 2021. This applies to properties which have not yet been legalized although the application for legalization was submitted at the right time.

- the Minister is empowered to vary the conditions regarding the requirements for people in the hospitality and rental businesses.

- the deadline for re-categorizing hotels and camps is extended. Applications will start from 1 year after the end of the Covid-19 special measures situation, instead of after 4 years from the original permit.

- hotel and camp operators who have been granted a temporary operations permit for the type of operation, but not yet for the category of the premises, are granted an extension of one year following the end of the Covid-19 special measures in the Republic of Croatia.

- for renters whose categorization permits were issued before September 1st 2007, and for those who wish to retain their existing level of category (star rating), applications for new documents must be made before the following deadlines:
8.4.2022 – for permits issued before 31.12.2000.
8.4.2023 – for permits issued between 1.1.2001 and 31.12.2004.
8.4.2024 – for permits issued after 31.12.2004.

The Law Governing Tourist Boards and the Promotion of Croatian Tourism has been amended to alleviate financial constraints caused by the Covid-19 epidemic. You can read the amendments (NN 42/2020-885) on the following link (in Croatian): https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2020_04_42_885.html

The Law on the Tourist Fee has been amended, (NN 42/2020-886) and can be read (in Croatian) on the following link: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2020_04_42_886. The amendments are as follows:

- during the Covid-19 special situation, the Croatian Government is empowered to vary the system for determining the level of the tourist fee and the deadlines for its payment.

- the Croatian Government is also empowered to repurpose resources from the Fund for Insufficiently Developed Inland Areas and the Fund for Associated Tourist Boards.

- while the special conditions caused by the Covid-19 epidemic last, inspectors will not issue fines or penalty notices, or institute legal action in the case of contraventions.

If you need further information, contact the Ministry of Tourism by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

May 2020

More in this category: « Covid-19, sneaky sniper Eco Hvar Supporters Honoured »
back to top
You are here: Home notices Ministry of Tourism Covid-19 Relief Measures

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Developed countries accused of bowing to lobbyists at plastic pollution talks

    Campaigners say last-minute compromise plays into the hands of petrostates and industry influences

    Campaigners are blaming developed countries for capitulating at the last minute to pressure from fossil fuel and industry lobbyists, and slowing progress towards the first global treaty to cut plastic waste.

    Delegates concluded talks in Ottawa, Canada, late on Monday, with no agreement on a proposal for global reductions in the $712bn (£610bn) plastic production industry by 2040 to address twin issues of plastic waste and huge carbon emissions.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Water everywhere’: Shropshire farmers race to salvage harvest after record rain

    Some crops completely wiped out and dramatic falls in yields being predicted in county which reflects crisis in rest of UK

    With his farm almost entirely surrounded by the banks of the River Severn in north Shropshire, Ed Tate is used to flooding on his land – but this year, the sheer level of rainfall is the worst he has ever seen.

    He points to a field where about 20% of wheat crops have failed as they have been covered with rainwater that has pooled in muddy puddles, in areas that would usually be a sea of green by now.

    Continue reading...

  • How climate policies are becoming focus for far-right attacks in Germany

    Politicians fear perceived costs of green transition are driving poor and rural voters to parties such as AfD

    Raising his voice above the pounding drums and honking tractors, Lutz Jankus, a city councillor from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), distanced himself from the furious protest unfurling before him.

    “They’re rightwing extremists,” he said about Free Saxony, a loose political movement that includes neo-Nazis and skinheads, as his colleagues began to pack up their tent on the side of the square in the centre of Görlitz.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: Letting go of a cow we hold dear | Sarah Laughton

    Long Dean, Cotswolds: The relentless rainfall we’ve had this year continues to dominate the farm, and we’ve had a significant loss here too

    I decided this morning that I couldn’t wait any longer and I whistled the cattle through to the river meadow. Grass, which has been growing and green all winter, is now shin high in places, but there are areas of wet where heavy trampling would disproportionately damage the soil structure.

    April did what April does, namely cruel winds and sharp showers, perpetuating a more or less eight-month long mono-season – or perhaps that should be monsoon. Since finishing the last of my hay, I’ve had to balance protecting sodden ground from heavy trampling with losing the benefit of spring grazing. The cattle are looking at their most bucolic, blue sky unfurled overhead, a constellation of dandelions at their feet. Already they are shedding their winter coats, but, almost in contradiction, they continue to wear muddy stockings up to their hocks.

    Continue reading...

  • PFAS increase likelihood of death by cardiovascular disease, study shows

    In a first, researchers were able to compare records of people who drank polluted water in Veneto, Italy, with neighbors who did not

    For the first time, researchers have formally shown that exposure to toxic PFAS increases the likelihood of death by cardiovascular disease, adding a new level of concern to the controversial chemicals’ wide use.

    The findings are especially significant because proving an association with death by chemical exposure is difficult, but researchers were able to establish it by reviewing death records from northern Italy’s Veneto region, where many residents for decades drank water highly contaminated with PFAS, also called “forever chemicals”.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Washout winter’ spells price rises for UK shoppers with key crops down by a fifth

    Analysts say impact on wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape harvests means price rises on beer, bread and biscuits and more food imported

    UK harvests of important crops could be down by nearly a fifth this year due to the unprecedented wet weather farmers have faced, increasing the likelihood that the prices of bread, beer and biscuits will rise.

    Analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has estimated that the amount of wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape could drop by 4m tonnes this year, a reduction of 17.5% compared with 2023.

    Continue reading...

  • After 25 years, logging and bushfires, a greater glider has been spotted in Deongwar state forest

    Native forest logging will cease in south-east Queensland this year – but how long will it take forests to recover?

    It’s just after 8pm when Jess Lovegrove-Walsh, walking down a pitch-black fire trail through bushland about 100km west of Brisbane, trains her spotlight on a pair of laser-red eyes deep in the canopy.

    “That’s a big long tail, it’s either a possum or a glider,” she yells, as a fellow ecologist from the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, Paul Revie, runs ahead with his camera.

    Continue reading...

  • Great Barrier Reef’s worst bleaching leaves giant coral graveyard: ‘It looks as if it has been carpet bombed’

    Scientists stunned by scale of destruction after summer of storm surges, cyclones and floods

    Beneath the turquoise waters off Heron Island lies a huge, brain-shaped Porites coral that, in health, would be a rude shade of purplish-brown. Today that coral outcrop, or bommie, shines snow white.

    Prof Terry Hughes, a coral bleaching expert at James Cook University, estimates this living boulder is at least 300 years old.

    Continue reading...

  • The world is on fire – and the NBA wants to be part of the solution

    League is in unique position to help with climate crisis, setting ambitious goal for a 50% drop in its carbon footprint by 2030

    From a climate perspective, the world is in peril. It’s undeniable at this point. Today, though, there are organizations working to find solutions. But when it comes to the universe of pro sports, which has long been a source of pollution like other big businesses, where can answers be found? That’s the question those within leagues like the National Basketball Association are debating now. While the NBA has its own challenges when it comes to air travel and its carbon footprint, the league is also progressing forward with substantive changes, small and large, to assuage the climate crisis. And it’s in a unique position to do just that.

    Unlike anonymous research departments or lesser-known scientific organizations, the NBA is one of the most popular outfits in the world. It’s on the minds and lips of millions of people on a daily basis. This gives it the chance to manufacture change. A point not lost on many around the league.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Husband eaters’: the double loss of Bangladesh’s ostracised tiger widows

    After the trauma of losing their spouse and breadwinner to the Sundarbans’ great predator, women are cast out by their superstitious communities. But they are coming together to rebuild their lives

    Nobody saw exactly what happened in the minutes leading up to Aziz Murad’s death. But when his friends got back to the boat where they had left him, they found only his severed hand in the fishing net he was untying.

    “We were only gone for about five minutes,” says Abu Sufyan, who was first to reach the boat. “When we got back, he was gone and there was blood everywhere.”

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

  • Study is a ‘wake-up call’ for marine protections

    Countries around the world are trying to bring fish populations back from the brink after decades of overfishing. But some marine protected areas are falling short with a certain type of fish. Here’s why.

  • ‘Changing Planet’ finds hope for climate-weary coral reefs

    In the third year of the sweeping global PBS series “Changing Planet,” Conservation International CEO M. Sanjayan explores how climate change is affecting some of Earth’s most vulnerable ecosystems — and the groundbreaking science that’s offering hope.

  • New film drops beat for ‘climate heroes’

    A new documentary takes viewers on a trip around the world to explore one of nature’s most powerful — yet overlooked — climate allies: blue carbon.

  • To save elephants, it takes a village

    Kenya’s Reteti Elephant Sanctuary — the first community-owned elephant sanctuary in East Africa — provides a place for injured elephants to heal and a home for elephants orphaned by poaching.

  • Amid a deforestation crisis, two countries plant seeds of hope

    Earth lost 3.7 million hectares (9.2 million acres) of tropical forest last year, an area nearly the size of the Netherlands. Yet amid these sobering findings, there are signs of hope.

  • New research: Critical 'irrecoverable carbon' at risk

    Earth has lost 2 billion metric tons of “irrecoverable carbon” since 2018 — an amount greater than the United States’ annual greenhouse gas emissions — underscoring the need to halt deforestation and expand protected areas.

  • What drives deforestation — and how can we stop it?

    As dangerous heatwaves shatter records around the world, a new study provides the most comprehensive review yet of how to stop deforestation — a major cause of climate-warming greenhouse gases, second only to fossil fuel emissions.

  • As coffee demand grows, farmers work to deliver a sustainable brew

    Every day, billions of cups of coffee are consumed around the world — and experts say demand could triple over the next 30 years. So, how will all those lattes, espressos and cold brews affect the environment?

  • Climate, biodiversity fight gets $5B shot in the arm

    In an announcement today at New York Climate Week, nine philanthropic organizations pledged US$ 5 billion over the next decade to support the creation and expansion of protected areas, sustainable management of the world’s oceans and Indigenous-led conservation.

  • Meet a scientist: the fisheries aficionado

    Ana Gloria Guzmán-Mora is the executive director of Conservation International’s Costa Rica program, where she works with local communities and governments to help them meet their goals for protecting the planet.

Copyright © 2024 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.