WASHINGTON, July 24 (Hina) - Croatian Tourism Minister Pave Zupan-Ruskovic said in Washington on Wednesday Zagreb and Dubrovnik could soon become flight destinations for the US air carrier Delta Airlines.
WASHINGTON, July 24 (Hina) - Croatian Tourism Minister Pave Zupan-
Ruskovic said in Washington on Wednesday Zagreb and Dubrovnik could
soon become flight destinations for the US air carrier Delta
Airlines. #L#
Zupan-Ruskovic spoke to the company's leaders in Atlanta,
concluding the first step should be the expansion of cooperation
between Delta Airlines and Croatia Airlines.
The expansion would be based on the code share contracts the US and
Croatian air carriers have with Air France, Alitalia, and the Czech
CSA. These three companies would increase the number of their
flights to Croatia, while Delta Airlines would offer its overseas
passengers Croatian airports as destinations.
Zupan-Ruskovic recalled that in 1988 PanAm had 17 weekly flights to
the ex-Yugoslavia, including Croatia.
She estimated Delta Airlines could start flying its passengers to
the Zagreb and Dubrovnik airports in 2006.
As for the number of US tourists visiting Croatia, the minister said
this year saw a seven percent increase, excluding some 50,000
Americans stopping in Croatia on their sea cruises.
Zupan-Ruskovic said the number of American tourists would be higher
if Croatia had more five-star hotels.
She recalled that around EUR200 million had been invested in the
renovation of hotels in Croatia. The completion of post-war
renovation works will take another two years, she said.
The minister stated the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and
Development was completing a profitability study for turning the
Gruz port into a starting point for cruising ships. Several foreign
investors are interested, she said.
In the continuation of her US visit, Zupan-Ruskovic will meet
representatives of several American travel agencies.
(hina) ha