Croatian ‘Handball-Tourism Day’ on Emissive Tourism Markets

On the occasion of the Croatian hosting of the 21st Men's World Handball Championship, Croatia 2009, taking place from January 16 – February 1 2009, the Croatian National Tourist Board, through its offices throughout the world and in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, Croatian Handball Association and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, organized ‘Croatian Handball-Tourism Days’ as an announcement of the big sporting event in November 2008. Sports and tourism were mixed in a common goal – the promotion of the tourism offer and beauties of Croatia as an attractive destination with the image of great athletes and enviable sports results.

‘Croatian Handball-Tourism Days’ included the presentation of the tourism offer and handball in 13 countries participating in the tournament, which are, at the same time, important tourist markets for our country. The presentation was organized by the representatives of the Croatian Handball Association, Croatian National Tourist Board and the representatives of the host cities, and it included a whole sequence of activities, including a press conference at which there were promotional movies about Croatia, host cities and handball in Croatia, and presentations about gastronomy and wine at dinners for the invited. Croatian dishes were prepared by Croatian chefs and well-known musicians contributed to the pleasant atmosphere.

A large amount of promotional material and souvenirs was handed out (key chains shaped in the jerseys of Croatian handball players, shirts with the championship logo, lavender and honey dough hearts). For the media, there was a special press map containing all important information about Croatia, host cities and new arenas. The presentation was an example of how to promote tourism with sports. The numerous people present were amazed by the movie featuring Croatian beauties, as well as the success of Croatian sports, especially handball. At each presentation, there were around 200 people, including representatives of diplomacy, politics, public life, Olympic committee, handball association, handball players, sports and tourism journalists.

The presentations were held at the following cities:

November 3, 2008 Budapest
November 6, 2008 Oslo
November 11, 2008 Copenhagen
November 12, 2008 Stockholm
November 17, 2008 Bucharest
November 19, 2008 Moscow
November 24, 2008 Warsaw
November 24, 2008 Belgrade
November 25, 2008 Madrid
November 25, 2008 Skopje
November 26, 2008 Paris
November 27, 2008 Frankfurt
November 27, 2008 Seoul