The Swatch Beach Volleyball Major Series is one of the four most prestigious beach volleyball tournaments and offers a prize pool of 800,000 dollars for each tournament. Hence Porec will in June host some of the world's greatest beach volleyball stars. After Croatia, tournaments will be held in Norway, Switzerland and the grand finale in the USA. The FIVB World Tour is the second phase of qualifiers from the Rio Olympics in 2016 so the winners in Porec will not just be world champions but will find their way to Copacabana.
Beach Major Company CEO Hannes Jagerhofer told reporters that Porec was selected to host the tournament because "it is one of the most beautiful spots in the world and a perfect setting for the tournament which has become much more than just a sport and has transformed into a culture."
Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin could not hide his satisfaction that Porec had been chosen to be part of this world volleyball series, underscoring that "the more global a project the more it contributes to promoting Croatia in the world."
"This tournament is certainly refreshing and will be a great opportunity for Porec to even better present itself to the world. I invite everyone to spread the word of this great sporting event and in that way help Croatia establish itself as a beautiful tourism and sporting country," Lorencin said.