Barring EU Safe List, US Tourists Exempt from Croatia’s Travel Restrictions
Good news for all American travellers as Croatia’s travel restrictions have been eased to welcome tourists from the US even after the European Union (EU) finalised its ban in late June. The EU’s safe list permitted non-essential travel to only 15 countries from July 1. After the recent announcement, Croatia has become the first country in European Union to welcome US tourists.
As per the conditions listed on the website of Croatian Ministry of Interior, all travellers coming to Croatia have to present a negative Covid-19 test taken within 48 hours of arrival or they will have to self-isolate for 14 days. Besides declaring the reason for visit, each traveller will have to fill a travel registration form giving complete details of their accommodation.
In 2019, nearly 21 million tourists had visited Croatia, the number is expected to be much less this year. Usually, the Plitvice Lakes National Park and the Diocletian’s Palace would be crowded with tourists at this time of the year. All restaurants, parks and tourist destinations in Croatia have now reopened but people are still hesitant to visit.
The easing of Croatia’s travel restrictions has encouraged travellers from America to visit the country. Based on data by eVisitor, nearly half a million holiday-goers in Croatia at this moment are from Germany and Central Europe. As per details by licensed tour guide in the Dubrovnik area — Ivan Vukovic, “There have already been American tourists in Croatia cruising on their chartered yachts in the Adriatic”. He added that most travellers will prefer staying at home due to the pandemic. Nearly 200 American groups, have cancelled their plans with Vukovic for the same reason.
Despite the easing of Croatia’s travel restrictions, visitors travelling for business trips have to show documents claiming “such as an invitation to a meeting” or “status of a board member, ownership or co-ownership share in a company” registered in Croatia. Visitors entering the country even for personal reasons (like going to a funeral, medical treatment or for sports competitions) will have to share details with the government.
In case you are planning to visit your girlfriend/boyfriend living in Croatia, make sure you are registered in a ‘domestic partnership’. Proper evidence of a shared address or the joint ownership of real estate needs to be shown for entering the country.
Meanwhile, Hungary is also included in the ‘Green list’ of countries safe for travel. Speaking about the addition, the Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board Kristjan Stanicic said, “The Hungarian market is entering our top 10 markets and I believe that the news of Croatia’s classification in the green category will further encourage our Hungarian guests to spend their holidays in our country. So far in July, Hungarians have made almost 30,000 arrivals and more than 150,000 overnight stays in Croatia, which is approximately 45 percent of the results achieved in the same period last year”.
Even though Croatia’s travel restrictions allow entry from all countries, Norway’s ‘Red List’ of countries restricts entry of Croatian travellers into Norway.
