Efforts to vaccinate around 70,000 tourism workers in the country will get under way next week, Croatia’s minister of tourism Nikolina Brnjac has confirmed.

In addition to permanent tourism employees, the priority vaccination programme will extend to seasonal workers too, as well as private accommodation providers.

Tourism workers will be divided into two priority groups, the first comprising those whose roles require frequent contact with guests and other workers, and where physical distancing is not always possible – such as kitchen staff.

The second will feature workers in service occupations, officer workers and others, those who don’t have significant contact with guests.

Croatia recently set out its Covid entry protocols for non-EU visitors this summer; tourists will be allowed to enter the country so long as they can present confirmation of having booked accommodation, and evidence of their negative Covid status.

This could be through a negative PCR or antigen test for Covid-19, a vaccination certificate, or evidence of having recently recovered from Covid-19.

"Croatia is among the first countries to vaccinate tourism workers and this is extremely important for us to further position as a safe destination," said Brnjac.

"In addition to the Safe Stay in Croatia project, this is an additional guarantee for tourists that Croatia meets all the prerequisites for a safe holiday for every guest who chooses our country as their tourist destination."

Additionally, Brnjac revealed recent government discussions had also explored establishing additional points for guest testing and training more people to conduct testing.