Travel News
Tourists in Croatia cheated out of their cash
By DPA
Jul 5, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Zagreb - Tourism accounts for a major chunk of Croatia\'s income, but many on its Adriatic coast are willing to cheat naive guests for short-term gain regardless of the long-term impact, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Vecernji List daily made the claim after setting up a sting operation. One of its reporters, posing as a Hungarian tourist, was swindled 10 times in a single day.

The man was repeatedly cheated on the exchange rate - by 15 per cent on average.

He was sent on a boring cruise instead of a Kornati Islands tour he signed up for - yet instead of getting a refund had to pay admission for a \'national park\' he had not even seen from the ship.

Souvenirs he bought on the Adriatic coast turned out to have been \'Made in China.\'

\'Croatian tourist organizations says Croatia is a hospitable country, but, even if guests fails to notice, their hosts skilfully rip them off,\' Vecernji said. \'It\'s small consolation that most of the frauds and cheats were small-time.\'