Long awaited by many, Croatia is once again the first Mediterranean destination for charter crews, including those from Germany. The country allows entry for tourists with a booking, and transit through Austria and Slovenia has also been possible again since last week.
"We are delighted that the season on the Adriatic can finally begin. The first crews have travelled to our bases without any problems," reports Klaus Pitter from Pitter Yachting, which operates various bases in Croatia. But only by car, which is the great advantage of the area, as most German crews also arrive by car. Pitter reports on the current procedure at the borders: "The crew must have the charter contract and the e-crew form from the Croatian authorities with them. The latter is fed into the Croatian e-nautica system via the booking system of the organiser or agency of the trip and then sent to the customer by email. It must then be printed out and taken along. It is important that if the crew is travelling in several cars, a copy is available in each vehicle. This is also checked by the Croatians at the border."
Once in the country, the crew can then expect a fairly normal charter cruise, as the Croatian authorities do not impose any further conditions regarding the number of guests on board or how many households they come from. Only at the base do the charter companies have hygiene regulations. At Pitter, there are just a few rules: Only the skipper should enter the office for registration and wear a face mask. The handover also takes place with a face mask. All paperwork has been replaced by digital versions as far as possible. The boats are thoroughly cleaned and sanitised after each return.
In the harbour itself, Croatia's normal hygiene and social distancing rules apply. Compared to Germany, these have so far been relatively relaxed and there is no general obligation to wear a mask in supermarkets or restaurants. Marinas and cities are still pretty empty, but that should change soon in the coming weeks, says Klaus Pitter "Demand for yachts is increasing noticeably, we are at around 60 per cent of the demand of a normal year." This gives the Austrian hope that the industry in Croatia will still get off lightly.
1st Class Yachts, whose base manager Sino Radojicic reports a similarly smooth start to the season in a short video from Pula stands in front of freshly serviced yachts and still empty jetties. The harbours and sanitary facilities are also open. Customers can fill out the e-crew paperwork themselves online via their access to their own charter documents. 1st Class Marketing Manager Dirk Kadach also reports that demand for Croatia charters is now picking up noticeably.
Croatia has come through the pandemic with very few cases following very rapid and rigid coronavirus measures. We are now optimistic that this will remain the case throughout the season.
The Ministry of Tourism is also currently working on a special system: anyone who develops coronavirus symptoms during their holiday in Croatia and fears they may have contracted the virus will not have to go to hospital immediately, but will be able to arrange a test with a local doctor via a hotline. If the test is positive, transport back to the home country will be organised together.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
