Rinčić on Tito’s Galeb: Deadline for completing the project at the end of the year

Speaking about the vision of the development of river tourism, she assessed that Rijeka has profiled itself as a transit and tourist destination, and that the goal is not only to achieve a large number of overnight stays, but also to create a high-quality tourist destination, where guests will stay longer and come back, spend more.

“I want tourism to contribute to the quality of life of citizens, to have additional benefits for the local economy,” she said and emphasized that the task is to tell the “river’s story” in a recognizable, credible and emotional way, to pay attention to the development of year-round tourism, to continue developing special forms of tourism, such as cultural and creative tourism and “There will be more emphasis on business tourism and gastronomy”, she stated.

She pointed out that there is great potential in manifestations, those that are moreć branded Rijeka, but also that there will be new projects and events aimed at quality and increasing tourist consumption. As one of the key priorities, she stated the strengthening of cooperation with all stakeholders in river tourism, stressing that a successful destination can only be built through partnership, dialogue and joint planning of all those involved in the creation of a tourist product.

When asked about the Rijeka Carnival and other manifestations, she replied that they will work on increasing the international recognition of the carnival and will strive to make the carnival one of the reasons for coming throughout the year. She said that Rijeka alreadyć has recognizable manifestations, but that work will also be done on the development of new manifestations, with an emphasis on business tourism, scientific and professional conferences, gastronomy.

The deadline for the completion of the Galeba project is the end of the year

Mayor Iva Rinčić she said that after the repeated competition and the election of the new director of the TZ of the city of Rijeka, the process was concluded, which lasted longer than expected. She said that she supports the new director and that the City will be a reliable partner for professional and transparent work.

Answering a question about the project of tourism valorization of the ship Galeba, which was co-financed with non-reimbursable European funds, she said that at the beginning of the mandate, they reported in detail about the state and costs of that project, which exceeded the initial settings and opened up financial risks, if it is not completed.

The last deadline for the completion of the project is the end of this year, and the public procurement for the repair of the ship is in the repeated procedure because the ship was damaged in a maritime accident at the port in the river port. It is expected that this procedure could be completed by the end of the summer, and then it would be possible to finish the project and put it into operation. The Mayor said that SAFU expressed their readiness to support the completion of the project, but not to extend the deadline for the completion of the project.

She pointed out that the City will do everything it can and continued that a lot of things were not defined at the beginning of the project, for example who will manage the ship. Now a solution has been found, according to which it would be managed by the city company Rijeka sport, which would additionally register to manage the ship and take over management in the technical part, which includes the crew and care of the ship, she reported.

As for the works, booths, settings, exhibitions are being arranged, but new requests are constantly appearing, so weekly meetings are held in this regard. The museum part of the ship is being finished, and the idea of ​​a hostel was abandoned because there was no interest in it and that part will not be in operation, said Rinčić.