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Post by justapixel on Jul 31, 2007 21:31:09 GMT 1
Nothing is impossible unless you have that attitude that it is. You can promote a desert and flaunt its limited assets and still get tourists interested in it. Croatia is no desert we have all the right assets..... it is just getting them promoted and helping the locals get it started. Deserts are interesting to tourists - canyons, mesas, sand dunes, oasises, they are all very attractive to tourists and attract large numbers. Slavonia isn't. Neither is Hungary, Vojvodina, central Ukraine or Kansas. Example Slavonia region. There are 2 things in Slavonia I would like to see. One is the Biomedical tech companies moving into the region. The govt should offer medical companies tax encentives to bring their business to this area. What on Earth made you say Biotech, apart from being a cool and lucrative industry?! Lemme see, we have Pliva and it's hardly surviving in the middle of Zagreb with all those fresh biomed graduates arriving every year. If we moved it to Slavonski Brod, suddenly all those bright young people would decide to try thay luck in Switzerland. ;D Two, give local farmers & land owners tax encentives to start FuFu boutique type hotels and promote Slavonia as a place to get organic, delicious homegrown foods.... make it a place people want to come to.... to enjoy the beautiful region, learn to cook while on vacation. Parts of Dalmatia have been successful at this and Italy also.... there is nothing wrong with the region. It is a beautiful place with lots of rich culture and great foods and crops. We already have a zillion organic homegrown agro tourism places spreading all over the place. They're given tax incentives and they're usually situated at very picturesque locations. Only a few are in Slavonia - would you guess why? There is also nothing wrong with Zagreb in the winter....no differet to any other country in winter...... with the exception that we do not promote or do anything to attract winter guests. Have you been to Zagreb in winter? I would have Zagreb start some type of winter fest, also promote skiing. Build better ski/snowboard area's. give company tax breaks and free advertizing and promote them by bringing in the top ski/snowboarder people in the business. If you get a few top snowboarders making claims of how great the boarding is in Croatia.... you will have non-stop winter business. Because of Janica's success, Zagreb has actually built an ok little ski resort on Sljeme. Winter tourism and skiing are booming in Croatia. Unfortunately, there are only a few very undeveloped ski resorts in Croatia, and if serious money was to be invested in winter tourism it definitively wouldn't go to Sljeme having meager 1000m height but to a more fitting location. Croatia really can't compete with nearby Bosnia, Slovenia, Austria and Italy, all having very tall mountains and long winter tourism tradition. But we can use their proximity to attract winter tourists to take a break from skiing and enjoy something different. These are just small things that you can do that will dramitically change an area. Look at little ol Napa in California... it is a very popular destination now.... and basically it is a bunch of wineries that got together and now offer boutique hotels and cooking classes. That is it! Isn't that a wine county where they use Mexican cheap labor and sell average wine for excruciating prices? We already have most elements of that business model deployed - our wine is produced by Croatian laborers who are paid peanuts, in most areas it's pretty average and it's more expensive than in other wine making countries. .
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Post by zorro on Jul 31, 2007 22:03:31 GMT 1
Cutting bureaucracy inhibiting development, actively encouraging and working with investors and enforcing strict adherence to clearly laid out guidelines would allow Croatia to leverage its world-class resource ie it's coast and islands to the maximum (and all its other industries as well). I asked a Croatian solicitor if he wanted to see the property business de-regulated in Croatia and for foreigners to easily buy there, and he said "listen, (all Croats say listen) this is one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, why would I want to let foreigners buy it all up." Then my wife said, yeah he's got a point there!!!
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Post by californiacro on Jul 31, 2007 22:22:44 GMT 1
Nothing is impossible unless you have that attitude that it is. You can promote a desert and flaunt its limited assets and still get tourists interested in it. Croatia is no desert we have all the right assets..... it is just getting them promoted and helping the locals get it started. Deserts are interesting to tourists - canyons, mesas, sand dunes, oasises, they are all very attractive to tourists and attract large numbers. Slavonia isn't. Neither is Hungary, Vojvodina, central Ukraine or Kansas. Slavonia does not get large numbers of tourist because it is not known. Make it known and they will come....hunters, fisherman know it and they come but I don't want Slavonia being a place of just hunting and fishing. I also think Slavonia is a very pretty place, a beautiful river, lots of historical value. By the way... Kansas gets lots of tourists... for its historical landmarks, museums, indian history (reservations), hunting, fishing, camping, and recreational value. What on Earth made you say Biotech, apart from being a cool and lucrative industry?! Lemme see, we have Pliva and it's hardly surviving in the middle of Zagreb with all those fresh biomed graduates arriving every year. If we moved it to Slavonski Brod, suddenly all those bright young people would decide to try thay luck in Switzerland. ;D The reason it was mentioned was because they were going to develop an area for this specifically in Slavonia.... I mentioned this about 2 years ago or so on this website, I believe there were 1 or 2 people that knew what I was talking about, they keep up with all the new construction in Croatia..... I have not kept up with all the new construction for about a year now. If they do build this and you give companies tax breaks and you will have companies from all over the world interested, especially when you have young intelligent people waiting for opportunitys surrounding the area that you can employee easily .... you will have yourself an area that will give jobs to your young intelligent kids & unbelievable growth in the surrounding areas. We already have a zillion organic homegrown agro tourism places spreading all over the place. They're given tax incentives and they're usually situated at very picturesque locations. Only a few are in Slavonia - would you guess why? No actually we don't have enough places like this through out our country and we need more.Have you been to Zagreb in winter? Yes and it is BEAUTIFUL and I don't really care for big city life but Zagreb looks beautiful covered in snow and Osijek also is very romantic looking in winter..Because of Janica's success, Zagreb has actually built an ok little ski resort on Sljeme. Winter tourism and skiing are booming in Croatia. Unfortunately, there are only a few very undeveloped ski resorts in Croatia, and if serious money was to be invested in winter tourism it definitively wouldn't go to Sljeme having meager 1000m height but to a more fitting location. Croatia really can't compete with nearby Bosnia, Slovenia, Austria and Italy, all having very tall mountains and long winter tourism tradition. But we can use their proximity to attract winter tourists to take a break from skiing and enjoy something different. Thinking outside the box.... wonderful idea!These are just small things that you can do that will dramitically change an area. Look at little ol Napa in California... it is a very popular destination now.... and basically it is a bunch of wineries that got together and now offer boutique hotels and cooking classes. That is it! Isn't that a wine county where they use Mexican cheap labor and sell average wine for excruciating prices? We already have most elements of that business model deployed - our wine is produced by Croatian laborers who are paid peanuts, in most areas it's pretty average and it's more expensive than in other wine making countries. I am not even thinking about the wine making aspect.... I am thinking about all the other stuff that Napa offers that has nothing to do with wine... it could be corn fields what-ever.... it is what Napa has done to bring tourism to their little community..... they offer cute boutiques and trendy hotels that specialize in pampering. They also have upscale restaurants that draw people in from all over the world. They also have places that you can stay and learn how to cook or learn how to produce wine. All things that you can do in Slavonia. There is nothing special about Napa, it looks like a farm town with rolling hills of grapevines. People are not drawn to Napa because of the beauty but by the ambience which is created by the PEOPLE![/.
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Post by justapixel on Aug 1, 2007 9:25:10 GMT 1
californiacro, please use normal means of citation, this red font invention makes understanding what's going on very hard. Slavonia does not get large numbers of tourist because it is not known. Make it known and they will come....hunters, fisherman know it and they come but I don't want Slavonia being a place of just hunting and fishing. I also think Slavonia is a very pretty place, a beautiful river, lots of historical value. By the way... Kansas gets lots of tourists... for its historical landmarks, museums, indian history (reservations), hunting, fishing, camping, and recreational value. Yeah, surely obscurity is the problem, not the fact that Slavonia has nothing to offer. Plains are called plains because they're plain. As for Kansas and it's "lots of tourists", lemme see - www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/ says number of visitors to natural resources is the lowest one in USA, while overseas visitors are negligible. Not surprising at all. Surely Slavonia has a lot of room to improve its tourist industry; agro tourism, hunting, fishing - but even then tourist numbers will remain negligible. The reason it was mentioned was because they were going to develop an area for this specifically in Slavonia.... I mentioned this about 2 years ago or so on this website, I believe there were 1 or 2 people that knew what I was talking about, they keep up with all the new construction in Croatia..... I have not kept up with all the new construction for about a year now. If they do build this and you give companies tax breaks and you will have companies from all over the world interested, especially when you have young intelligent people waiting for opportunitys surrounding the area that you can employee easily .... you will have yourself an area that will give jobs to your young intelligent kids & unbelievable growth in the surrounding areas. You really think there is not a host of other much more attractive locations offering tax break all over the world? The only thing that may attract foreign hi-tech companies here is cheap qualified labor. The problem is, our labor is not cheap at all compared to surrounding countries, while most qualified people have gone abroad after finishing education. Even if they are still here, they surely won't leave comfort of Zagreb for Slavonian pripizdina, hell, they won't leave for Split even though many are from there. No actually we don't have enough places like this through out our country and we need more. Dunno if we really need more or don't but they're spreading fast and they're given all kinds of tax incentives. Have you been to Zagreb in winter? - Yes and it is BEAUTIFUL and I don't really care for big city life but Zagreb looks beautiful covered in snow and Osijek also is very romantic looking in winter. Zagreb rarely has snow and it only remains on ground for a week or two. This winter - nah, last winter - a little bit in march. Most winters (apart from last one which was pretty ok) are terribly gloomy, city is very foggy and capped by a thick cloud layer keeping smog and polution from escaping elsewhere. So basically you have fog, smog and mud - very attractive indeed. Of course you can get drunk and happily roam the chilly streets, but I'd prefer roaming the streets of Prague then. I am not even thinking about the wine making aspect.... I am thinking about all the other stuff that Napa offers that has nothing to do with wine... it could be corn fields what-ever.... it is what Napa has done to bring tourism to their little community..... they offer cute boutiques and trendy hotels that specialize in pampering. They also have upscale restaurants that draw people in from all over the world. They also have places that you can stay and learn how to cook or learn how to produce wine. All things that you can do in Slavonia. There is nothing special about Napa, it looks like a farm town with rolling hills of grapevines. People are not drawn to Napa because of the beauty but by the ambience which is created by the PEOPLE![/ [/color] [/quote] I have to disagree with the last part. The fact is Napa valley is beautiful. It compares to Provence and Tuscany. It's a very idyllic location situated close to obscenely rich and populated west coast. We do have some nice microlocations which may or already do go the same way: Mirna river valley, Neretva delta, some parts of Lika, possibly parts of Zagorje. But that's about it - people will only go to very attractive locations for that kind of tourism. For everything else we have lowly agro tourism oriented towards weekend tourists and travelers passing by. .
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