Best regards to everyone, it is my special pleasure to welcome you to our County website!
Our region has an immense potential! All the values of the mountain of Velebit and its slopes, Bukovica and Ravni Kotari, coast and islands with their climatic and geomorphologically unique features, as well as their traditional and cultural particularities, are the greatest comparative advantages in regional development planning and create the basic preconditions for the development of the whole area of the Zadar County.
I believe that Zadar County as a unit of local, regional self-government whose basic task is development management, in cooperation with the economic, educational and scientific sectors as generators of overall socio-economic development, will implement defined activities and measures to take significant steps towards the ultimate goal, set back in 1993 when it was established, which is raising the quality of life conditions for all its inhabitants. In our efforts to turn the entire area of our County into additional value, we have been systematically implementing a polycentric development program since the very beginning of our regional self-government.
Zadar County is an attractive and economically competitive region of balanced and sustainable development, recognizable cultural and natural heritage and high quality of life.
Tourism, food-processing industry, fisheries, mariculture and shipping are key industries that encourage our overall development. Zadar County is a leader in mariculture and fisheries on the Adriatic and this sector is one of the most important export assets. The Adriatic Sea is not only a development resource, but also a way of life and that is why the commitment to its protection and sustainable coastal management is extremely important.
The port infrastructure has been developed both on the coast and in the island part. The port of Gaženica, the largest and most modern passenger and ferry port on the eastern Adriatic coast, is certainly of exceptional importance for the economy of the entire Zadar County. Its construction has triggered multiple positive effects for the entire county, and in 2019 it was declared the Port of the Year at the famous Cruise Industry Fair Seatrade Europe in Hamburg. With the realization of the Gaženica port project, Zadar has become an unavoidable transit centre for passenger and freight traffic in this part of Europe. The port of Gaženica is connected by a modern motorway, as well as Zadar Airport, which is connected to numerous European destinations.
Good natural position and investments in transport infrastructure have contributed to the development of tourism and all activities that accompany it. With the continuous increase in the number of tourist arrivals and overnight stays, the quality of the total tourist product is rising, which is gradually being improved and supplemented by the development of the tourist offer in the hinterland and remote parts of the County. Thanks to the fertile Ravni kotari, this County has great agricultural potential with a special emphasis on organic production. Top quality wines are made here, the best-rated olive oils and cheeses, quality fruits and vegetables grow.
As a significant tool in achieving its strategic goals, Zadar County has recognized EU funds through which numerous infrastructure projects have been financed and built, as well as renovated cultural heritage facilities such as the Rector's and Providur's Palace in Zadar and Mašković Han in Vrana.
Zadar County is the leader in Croatia in terms of investments in renewable energy sources, especially in the field of wind energy potentials use.
The step that is still awaiting full realization is to encourage the development of innovation, education, the digital society and the growth of competitiveness, then finally, the creation of even better conditions for a quality investment environment.
Finally, I wish to all of our visitors to have enough time to get to know more about the unique natural values of our region, to find out numerous monuments that speak of the cultural and scientific achievements of man in this unusual space where you will be convinced that the past, present and future are merging into a unique atmosphere. Welcome!
The Zadar County Prefect
Božidar Longin, B.Sc.E.