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Croatia bans tourists from arriving with their own food; Czechs are outraged
We've all heard of movie theaters banning food not bought on premises, and certainly it's a no-brainer that you just can't buy take-away food somewhere and go sit in a restaurant and eat it.
But this is the first time I've heard of a country banning food not purchased in its own borders.
Croatia has taken the unusual step, in Europe at least, of forbidding tourists from bringing their own food when they come to holiday on the coast this summer. The ban seems focused on meat and dairy products, and is response primarily to Czech tourists who, in droves every summer, pack up their family cars with yogurt, margarine, fried meat, beer, you name it and head down to places like Hvar and Dubrovnik. They hardly spend a dime on food during a week or two of holidays.
Naturally, Czechs are up in arms about this.
"800,000 Czech citizens visit Croatia every year. Two-thirds of them – around 500,000 Czechs - spend their vacation in Croatia in apartments with kitchens where they cook. So this new rule very drastically affects most Czech citizens this year. Croatia is the number one destination for Czech people, and about 25 percent of all Czech vacations are spent in Croatia," Tomio Okamura, spokesman of the Czech Association of Tour Operators and Travel Agents, tells Radio Prague.
Why wouldn't Czechs just suck it up and maybe go out for a meal or two, or, if they want to cook, buy the food locally? Okamura has his theories: "It's not only a problem of price, it's also a problem of taste. Because Czechs like the taste of Czech sausages, Czech yogurt and so on - a lot of them prefer their lovely taste. And of course they want also to save money."
Maybe Gadling's resident Czech, Iva, should chime in on this: Will her countrymen cancel their Croatian holiday plans because of this, or will they, in the words of Radio Prague's great headline, play hide the salami?
Filed under: Europe, Croatia, Czech Republic
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Dan Jun 8th 2008 2:03PM
Poor Czech's... I can relate.
When I take my kids to Chucky Cheese's... I always want to bring Domino's Pizza to eat because Chucky Cheese 'pizza' sucks so freaking badly. Honestly, does that stupid mouse pee on their pizza or what?
RG Jun 9th 2008 10:28PM
How ironic that clueless Westerners still vacation in the Czech Republic and the Czechs vacation in Croatia. Skip Prague and head straight for Dubrovnik.
damien Feb 16th 2009 6:37AM
Croatian coast is visited by tourists from numerous countries, but the Czechs are the only ones bringing their food which has little or nothing to do with the so called 'quality' of their food; they are cheap and that is it.
Is somebody trying to convince me that continental greasy food is better than Mediteranean food? Come on people, Dalmatians thrive on home made olive oil, organic produce and fish from the cleanest sea in the Med. The price is steep, and the Czechs due to their low standard cannot afford it. They, just like the other 12 countries who recently joined EU are not wealthy enough to afford vacations as their Western brethren, the fact that they are so keen on forgeting.
gingercat Dec 30th 2011 4:07PM
Folks,
every other European country (especially those with a big influx of tourists) does not allow people to bring in certain types of food, some of them don't allow any. And apart from the food ban being totally logical and legitimate it should be obviuos to have some respect and not take all my stuff from home just to not have to buy anything from the local grocery stores. It's a matter of dignity I would say.
Fact is tourism is business and I don't get why the Czechs demand some special treatment?! if you don't have enough money to go on holiday for 3 weeks and spend some money in the country you go to then just go for 10 days. Noone forces you to go to Croatia. I bet they'd prefer tourists who are a bit more willing to spend to you lot anway.