Island Lošinj

Tihana Dakić-Barichievich has been working in the tourism industry for 27 years, and she can bear witness to the fact that that a lot has changed, including the awareness of local people and tourists. The DestiMED PLUS project is part of this change, and has had an impact on the way tourism is developing on the islands of Cres and Lošinj.

“More and more tourists seek a sustainable approach. Before, tourists who visited our island mostly looked forward to the sea, sunbathing andrelaxing, and rarely wanted alternative activities, nature walks and so on. But this is changing – out of season now we are visited by tourists who want to stay in nature and stay longer. We have branded Lošinj the ‘Island of Vitality’, and expanded our offer, so tourists who visit us are aware that we enjoy living here all year round, and that we do not depend only on tourist visits in July and August. On the island we build with natural materials, respecting nature

(Cres Lošinj is a Natura2000 site), we inform our guests about saving water, sustainable energy, garbage sorting, and the seasonal offer of food and organic products”.

The project has also highlighted the fact that governance, conservation and an attractive ecotourism product can go hand in hand, and has demonstrated the importance of team work.

“Sharing the workload I learned a lot, I felt that I was not alone – this project is successful because I had a team! DestiMED PLUS confirmed to me that without the synergy of the wholecommunity, progress is not possible. It validates my long-standing opinion that there is no competition in this business, only a common goal: a happy client who recounts the beauties of our island to the world. We want to make every guest a friend of Lošinj, learn from each guest what we can improve or change, constantly developing our approach.”