The Zagreb County Tourist Board will be issuing an announcement at the end of February regarding a public tender for the allocation of funds to projects of the local tourist boards. The funds will be sourced from the Fund for Tourism Underdeveloped Areas and the Continent. The available funds will be allocated to a plethora of projects ranging from research and strategic planning to tourism product development, communication, advertising, and destination management. The funds will also be available to prepare projects that apply for funds from EU funds, i.e., co-financing the domestic component of projects implemented with EU funds. The minimum value of an individual project is €10,000, and the approved funds can amount to 100% of the total eligible costs. During this year's first meeting of the coordination of tourist boards of cities and municipalities, as well as tourist boards of areas in Zagreb County, held in Velika Gorica, the director of Zagreb County Tourist Board, Ivana Alilović, introduced the participants to the competition.

Alilović, a Zagreb County Tourist Board official, has invited fellow tourist boards to collaborate on projects that promote innovation, creativity, and sustainability. By generating new content, they hope to increase recognition of the destination. The Zagreb County Tourist Board has submitted three projects to the Croatian Tourist Board competition, with hopes of receiving support from the Fund for Tourism Underdeveloped Areas and the Continent. They have received support from the umbrella institution in the past four years and are optimistic about receiving positive results.

We're currently undergoing the certification process and have high hopes of being declared Croatia's largest sustainable tourism region at the Berlin Tourism Fair.

Directors and representatives from local and regional tourist boards were introduced to this year's WRC Croatia Rally, which will take place in Zagreb County from April 18 to 21.

Dino Deljkić, the secretary of the WRC Croatia Rally, has emphasized that the competition is not just a sport, but also a significant contributor to tourism in the area. According to research, spectators who attend this event spend an average of 371 euros per day. What's more, an impressive 30% of these spectators return to the destination where the rally was held, boosting the local tourism industry.

At the meeting, the education "Sustainability in tourism" was announced, which will be carried out by the University of Applied Sciences Velika Gorica on the initiative of the Zagreb County Tourist Board. It is intended for directors of tourist boards and key stakeholders in tourism.

"It is a module carefully designed to provide participants with 5 ECTS points. The module emphasizes the use of marketing tools for promoting sustainable destinations and safety in tourism," pointed out Sanja Kalambura. "We need to position our destinations in the best possible way compared to others. We should leverage our advantages, especially the accessibility to the city of Zagreb," said Ivana Alilović, Director of the Zagreb County Tourist Board.