Long awaited by many, Croatia is the first Mediterranean area to be a destination for charter crews, including from Germany. The country allows entry for tourists with one booking, and transit through Austria and Slovenia has also been possible again since last week.
"We are happy that the season on the Adrinun can finally begin. The first crews made it to our bases without any problems," reports Klaus Pitter from Pitter Yachting, who operate various bases in Croatia. But only by car, the big advantage of the area, because most of the German crews also come by car. Pitter reports how the procedure at the borders is currently like: "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 organizer or the agency of the trip and then e-mailed to the customer. It must then be printed out and taken with you. It is important that if the crew arrives in several cars, there is a copy in each vehicle. That is also checked by the Croatians at the border."
Once in the country, the crew expects a fairly normal charter trip, because the Croatian authorities do not impose any further requirements regarding the number of guests on board or how many households they come from. Only at the base are there hygiene devices from the charter companies. There are a few rules at Pitter: Only the skipper should enter the office to register and wear a face mask. The handover also takes place with a face mask. As far as possible, all papers have been replaced by digital versions. The ships are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after each return.
In the port itself, the normal hygiene and distance rules of Croatia then apply. Compared to Germany, they are relatively relaxed so far, there is no general mask requirement in supermarkets or restaurants. Marinas and cities are still pretty empty, but that should change soon, says Klaus Pitter. This gives the Austrian hope that the industry in Croatia will get away with it with a black eye.
First class yachts also reported a similarly smooth start to the season, the base manager Sino Radojicic of which stands in a short video from Pulvor freshly serviced yachts and still empty jetties. The ports and sanitary facilities are also open. Customers can fill out the e-crew paper themselves via their access to their own charter documents online. First class marketing boss Dirk Kadach also reports that the demand for Croatia charter is now increasing noticeably.
After very fast and rigid corona measures, Croatia got through the pandemic with very few case numbers. It is now optimistic that this will continue to be the case during the season.
The Ministry of Tourism is also currently working on a special system: If you get corona symptoms while on vacation in Croatia and are afraid of being infected with the virus, you do not have to go to the hospital immediately, but should have a test with a doctor via a hotline can make an appointment on site. If this is positive, a return transport to the home country should be organized together.