RECENTLY, the Netherlands included Croatia on its orange list of countries due to an increase in the number of coronavirus cases. Although that is not obligatory, Dutch citizens are strongly recommended to self-isolate for 14 days upon returning to their country and, as Index finds out, this has already resulted in the Dutch canceling their vacations in Croatia.

Although both Spain and Portugal have had an increase in the number of newly infected people, the Netherlands did not include them on its orange list, that is, only one region in Portugal and two regions in Spain have been included on the orange list, while the other regions remained on the green list, which means there are no restrictions regarding traveling to these countries.

There were 4,571 new cases in Spain on July 20 (source: Wikipedia, New York Times) and 135 in Portugal, but only 25 new cases in Croatia. There has been an alternation of declines and increases in the number of newly infected in Portugal, as well as in Croatia, whereas in Spain, there has recently been a steady increase in the number of the newly infected.

We contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism and asked them about their efforts to lift the restrictions for Croatia, that is, to divide Croatia into regions, as is the case with the abovementioned countries.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The Minister explained to his Dutch counterpart that Croatia is a safe country

"Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlic Radman has contacted his Dutch counterpart Mr. Stef Blok on several occasions since the beginning of this week and explained that Croatia is a safe country," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in their response.

The Ministry of Tourism replied that they are cooperating with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Croatian Embassy in the Netherlands and the Croatian Coronavirus Task Force, and communicating with colleagues in the Netherlands in order to reach an agreement and find the best and safest solution regarding the decision of including Croatia in the orange list.

"We will inform you about the outcome of the conversations with our colleagues in the Netherlands as soon as possible," the Ministry of Tourism responded.

Embassy of the Netherlands: We are following the instructions of our Institute of Public Health

We also contacted the Embassy of the Netherlands in Croatia to ask them if the Netherlands and Croatia were negotiating the division of our country into regions, as was done with Spain and Portugal, but we only received a general reply.

"Our travel advice is based on the advice provided by the Institute of Public Health, RIVM. They provide us with an epidemiological assessment on which we base our travel advice," Roderick Richter, advisor at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Croatia, told Index.

An RIVM spokeswoman explained to Dutch media why they concluded that Croatia should be on the orange list.

"The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) receives data from European countries on a daily basis. These data are then forwarded to the RIVM. Croatia has reported only two regions, there is no detailed information," Loes Hartman told the Dutch media. "There is not much of a difference in the data between these two regions. You should ask Croatia why it is sending such a small amount of data," she added.

The Dutch are already canceling their vacations in Croatia

In anticipation of an agreement between Croatian and Dutch authorities, should there even be one, the Dutch have already started canceling their vacations in Croatia.

Tomislav Fain, president of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies, said that he is receiving information that the Dutch started canceling their previously booked arrangements in Croatia as soon as they heard the news.

"Unfortunately, they are canceling. We have received information about the cancellations, and considering that each guest is extremely important to us in these times, we have to do whatever we can to keep them. We hope that the government will adopt all the measures necessary for Croatia to have the same epidemiological situation it had before so that we could have at least somewhat of a tourist season," Fain told Index.

The Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB) told Index that at the time when the Netherlands advised its citizens to return, 23,820 Dutch tourists were staying in Croatia. Most of them were staying in Rovinj, Funtana, Tara, Vrsar, and Porec.

In July of this year, there have been 45,555 arrivals and 243,327 overnight stays by the Dutch, which amounts to 57% of arrivals and 60% of overnight stays from the same period of last year.

The Dutch were in the 10th place when it comes to the number of overnight stays in Croatia last year

The fact that the Dutch were in the 10th place on the list of foreign markets when it comes to the number of overnight stays shows how important Dutch tourists are to Croatia. In 2019, Dutch tourists accounted for 496 thousand arrivals and 2.99 million overnight stays in Croatia.

More than half of overnight stays (54%) by Dutch tourists in 2019 were in camps, followed by households (23%) and hotels (15%).

"We can expect that the decision will have a negative impact on tourism from the Dutch market. However, the Dutch MFA revises the list every two weeks, at the beginning, middle, and end of the month. We believe that if the epidemiological situation in Croatia remains stable and the numbers remain the same as in recent days, Croatia will once again be included on the green list", reads the CNTB's response to Index.

They pointed out that they reacted immediately after the announcement from the Dutch government.

CNTB: Our director for the Benelux countries reacted immediately

"The CNTB, that is, its office in the Netherlands (Director of the CNTB Representation for the Benelux countries, Ivan Novak), immediately asked the Dutch Institute of Public Health and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to divide Croatia into regions (as they did for Spain) instead of including the whole country on the orange list. Croatian diplomacy is also participating in the conversations", CNTB tells us.

The Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic also commented on the decision of Dutch authorities.

"This is why we are saying that tourism is actually everyone's concern, not just the concern of those who live on the coast. Tourism is very important for Croatian economy. Everyone should behave responsibly, from people in Istria to those in the Vukovar-Srijem County. We are all responsible for tourism. The fact is that the number of new cases is not increasing in the coastal area. The coastline should be considered a green zone, and our diplomacy is doing everything they can, and they will continue to do so in order to communicate this to the foreign markets. The vast majority of tourists come to coastal counties, and the epidemiological situation there is much better than in the northern counties, where we have an increase in the number of cases due to traditional gatherings," Bozinovic says.

CNTB Director Kristjan Stanicic commented on the fact that the Netherlands included Croatia on the orange list without any concrete data on how many people have been infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks, saying that it is difficult to give any estimates for the rest of the season, but that he is optimistically expecting a growth in tourism.

"I believe that the situation will change soon, because the list is updated every 14 days, and the number of infected individuals in our country is declining. I also believe that with good communication and a good epidemiological situation, we will be included on the green list. As for the criteria, they are not the same for all countries", said Stanicic, emphasizing that the Netherlands only recommends that their citizens self-isolate upon their return from Croatia, but they are not obliged to do so.