The Nautika, CroTOUR, Hotel&Gastroteh and INGA fairs were opened at the Zagreb Trade Fair on Wednesday, drawing 455 exhibitors from Croatia and 29 other countries.
The Nautika boating fair and the CroTOUR tourism fair close on Sunday, while the hospitality fair Hotel&Gastroteh and the food and drink fair INGA open tomorrow and close on Saturday.
The fairs were opened by Entrepreneurship and Crafts Minister Gordan Maras, who said the government had adopted a series of measures to improve conditions for the development of the entire tourism sector, rescinding a tax on boats last summer and slashing VAT on hospitality services from 25 to 10 per cent on January 1.
Maras underlined the importance of tourism for the Croatian economy and said he expected the strategy for the sector's development by 2020 to be achieved, including EUR 7 million in investments, increasing revenues to EUR 14 billion, creating 30,000 jobs, and making Croatia one of the 20 most competitive destinations in the world.
The minister said small and medium enterprises would play an important role in the achievement of those goals, adding that SMEs were among the priorities of the entire economic policy.
The CroTOUR fair will include a festival of the intangible cultural heritage of national minorities that will draw 500 participants from all over Croatia.
