Yugoslav tourism

The working class has turned everything upside down. The socialist government of Yugoslavia built extensive holiday facilities along the coast and mountains. The aim was to produce better workers and better citizens. So the Railways got their seaside resort, metallurgy workers theirs, etc. Each large industry had a holiday retreat. The industry did not cost much to send the workers on once a year on holiday. People from remote parts of Yugoslavia thus had the opportunity to spend some summer days at sea cheaply.

The coastal resorts became summer destinations for international tourists. Most of them came from socialist countries of eastern Europe, but there also was a significant minority from the capital states of western Europe.

It went on for decades, this practice. It became a way of living, and a new order was established. All post-socialist countries of Yugoslavia, including Croatia, still base their tourist offer on it. Sun, sea, and ćevapi. The holy trinity. It is almost impossible for the domestic mind to break through the off-season limit, a line beyond which seemingly there is no oxygen. Well, climate change will make that change for us.

However, this was not always the case. Aristocracy and nobility had completely opposite logic of summer and winter. In the summer, they would go to the mountains, and in the winter, they would walk the islands.

This somewhat romanticized idea of a holiday is close to me. Not because I’m a nobleman but because such logic gives me a complete sense of travel. There are beautiful things to see during the fall, winter and spring, or at least what is left of the once climatically clearly distinct seasons. Taverns are open, trails are out there, and the beauty of nature is always there. Fun too. Hiking opportunities are everywhere.

Good food as well – if you know where to go. Everything is here, except that the temperatures are comfortable, the crowds are gone, and everything is more accessible and laid back.

Travel like a nobleman. Away from the masses and close to nature and authenticity.