Explore Krk

Tourisam development

Take advantage of the vicinity and accessibility of the Golden Island of Krk to explore its impressive history and heritage through breath-taking stories and curiosities that make it miraculous and mysterious at the same time. Or simply search for your favourite beach bursting with sounds, scents and colours…

Tourism in Omišalj began to develop at the beginning of the twentieth century as excursion tourism. It was initiated by the “Društvo za poljepšanje Omišlja” (Society for the embellishment of Omišalj) which operated until the start of the First World War. Already at the end of 19th century, visitors from Opatija, Lošinj and other surrounding summer resorts, together with excursionists from Rijeka began coming to Omišalj in search of entertainment, holidays, popular traditions, antiquities, and Omišalj’s wine and “presnec” (an authentic pastry).

Njivice, once a small fishing village it is now one of the most attractive tourist destinations on the island of Krk. The town probably existed in prehistoric times, and was mentioned for the first time in a document dating back to 1474. Thanks to the Archduke Rudolf Habsburg who established hunting tourism there, Njivice became famous. In the 19th century, the first tourists were aristocrats and rich citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Between 1902 and 1905 the breakwater was constructed, and the number of tourists increased after which the first hotel was built followed by a number of villas and summer houses.

The present development of Malinska was established in 1880 when the first tourist steamboat docked into the port, with which a new stage of its development was marked – its tourism development, which at the beginning was just hunting tourism, and later expanded with the development of health tourism. Up until the beginning of the Second World War, the town became a famous tourist centre which was important even on a European scale. Malinska developed slowly, and the number of its inhabitants is continually growing. The height of its tourism development in the 20th century is represented by the construction of the Haludovo city hotel.

The city of Krk on the island of the same name has also developed as far as tourism is concerned, although external factors have played an important part. Amongst these is the beginning of rail and steamship traffic. Following the construction of the railway that connected Trieste with Rijeka, other parts of Europe were also connected with this area. Apart from the already mentioned factors, the area’s history and culture have considerably contributed to the development of tourism as the same city of Krk is a city of history and culture.
The first hotel facilities were built in the area of Dražice, where a beach for hotel guests and later on for local residents can be found in the bay of the same name. The above mentioned Dražice beach was founded in 1910. At that time changing rooms were built, which can be seen on postcards from that period. From a variety of sources we can conclude that the people of Krk paid great attention to tourist development, however tourism did not develop considerably between the First and the Second World Wars. The main characteristic of the city of Krk was its culinary offer which was dedicated to the common people and which can be seen in the large number of restaurants and taverns found there. From the early Middle Ages traces can be found of the town’s culinary offer which even today continues to be the basis of city life here. A café was mentioned here for the first time back in 1763, whilst organised tourist attractions were being pursued as early as 1848.
In the post war period of tourism development, between 1959 and 1960 the first caravan park was founded on the island. In 1960 the Hotelsko poduzeće Krk (Krk’s hotel company) was founded. At that time, for the first time since the Second World War, all catering capacities were united under one company.

Punat village is mentioned for the first time in written documents back in 1377 as Villa di Ponte. Until the 19th century the town was lived by farming and fishing, after which tourism development began. In 1891, the first restaurant was opened on the Stara placa (present day Mala placa), in the house where a machine used for olive pressing was later situated and which today is protected as a cultural monument. In 1908, the Society for the Embellishment of the village was founded and the first serious steps were taken regarding increasing the level of catering as a condition for tourism development. In 1923, the first hotel was opened – “Vila Lucija“.
The beginnings of an organized form of nautical tourism on our coast dates back to 1964. It was precisely in Punat that this idea was conceived and which marked the beginning of the new form of tourism. In fact, the first foreign yachts left for berthing and maintenance were to be found in the Punat shipyard back in 1964.

The beaches of Baška were precisely those which encouraged tourism development when the first beach was opened on the island of Krk. The beginning of tourism is seen to be as 1904 when the Society for the town’s Embellishment was founded. Shortly after that, the first hotel – the Zvonimir, was opened (in 1906). E. Geistlich was a Czech citizen who defined the subsequent development in tourism in Baška both as a business man and as an indefatigable propagator of tourism in Baška. Already back in 1910 he started the printing of a booklet and book guide of Baška in the Czech language as well as printing postcards and advertising flyers. In a detailed brochure, Geistlich informs Czech readers and describes Baška, its beach, tourist accommodation and its gastronomy together with a number of other pieces of useful information. Thanks to E. Geistlich’s effort, 960 guests arrived in Baška as far back as 1910, although everything began with single arrivals and just a few families. In 1911 Geistlich built the Baška hotel which was particularly modern for the period and which could host up to 33 guests.

In Vrbnik the beginnings of tourism are not so old. However, everything that makes it special and interesting today, was formed in days and centuries gone by. The 19th century was a turning point in the life of Vrbnik. New forms of economy had been developed and sea traffic routes had been set up. The construction in 1927 of Zgribnica beach also contributed to the development of tourism. In the period between the two world wars, Vrbnik was visited by organized groups of visitors. The Vrbniče nad morem hotel was only opened in 1961 , followed by the Bufet Zgribnica in 1962, so that by 1963 three different catering facilities were opened together, as well as the “Jadranka”depandanse the following year.

Compared to tourist resorts on the west and south coasts of the island (Baška, Malinska) where tourism development can be seen for more than a hundred years, the beginning of tourism in the Municipality of Dobrinj dates back to the period between the two world wars. However, we should mention that the first hotel in Šilo was opened during the Austro-Hungarian period, although it was closed soon after. The Tourist Community was founded between the two world wars in Šilo and the beach together with the Pećine hotel was set up.

Skip to content