Zadar County gathered the enogastro sector in Preko: experience, quality and an authentic story as the foundation of tourism development
Zadar County continued to strengthen its identity as an enogastro destination with the professional forum “Experience, quality and story: Zadar County as an enogastro destination”, held on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Preko on the island of Ugljan. The event was organized by the Zadar County Tourist Board, with the support of Zadar County, the University of Zadar and the Preko Ugljan hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton, and was held as part of the fifth edition of the Days of Wine and Gastronomy of Zadar County. It is an event that in recent years has established itself as one of the more important gatherings of stakeholders connected with local food, wines, hospitality, tourism and rural development.
The forum put in the foreground the question of how to create, from quality local products, traditional cuisine, the island way of life and wine heritage, a recognizable tourism product that can last longer than the main season. At the center of the discussions was not only the promotion of wine and food, but also a broader understanding of the destination as a space of experience, story and identity. Such an approach is becoming increasingly important in tourism because travelers are more and more often looking for content that connects place, people, landscape, production and personal experience, and not only the classic offer of a holiday.
Preko and the island of Ugljan thereby served as a logical backdrop for a conversation about the authenticity of island destinations. The island space carries special value in tourism because it brings together fishing, olive-growing, winemaking, hospitality and family tradition, but at the same time it faces the challenges of seasonality, availability of labor and the need for careful management of development. For this reason, the organizers directed the program toward topics that go beyond a one-time product presentation: the importance of quality, connecting producers and hospitality providers, contemporary interpretation of heritage and the development of sustainable tourism experiences.
For visitors who are planning a stay on the island or want to explore the enogastro offer of the Zadar archipelago, an important part of the broader tourism picture also becomes
accommodation in Preko and on Ugljan, especially in periods when the destination is trying to open itself to guests interested in gastronomy, wine, nature and local events outside the peak of the summer season.
Enogastronomy as more than a tourism add-on
The Days of Wine and Gastronomy of Zadar County have been bringing together, for the fifth year in a row, winemakers, food producers, hospitality providers, experts, representatives of tourist boards, local and regional self-government and the academic community. This year’s forum showed how enogastronomy is increasingly clearly viewed as one of the strategic elements of destination development, and not only as accompanying content of the tourism offer. Such a direction also corresponds to the county’s long-term development documents, in which the need for sustainable tourism, greater value of the offer and stronger reliance on local resources is emphasized.
In practice, this means that wine, olive oil, cheese, fish, island products, traditional dishes and contemporary cuisine do not function separately, but as parts of the same story. When a local ingredient is presented through a quality hospitality concept, when a winery becomes a place of experience, and a family farm becomes part of a tourism route, the destination receives content that can attract guests even in the months when sun and sea are not the only motive for arrival. Precisely for this reason, the forum emphasized the connection of tradition, local production and new tourism expectations.
Zadar County has a broad foundation in this respect: from Ravni kotari and vineyard locations, through islands and coastal places, to rural areas that can develop excursion, tasting-room and experiential offers. The official tourism communication of the region already highlights wine routes, local delicacies and gastronomic recommendations as part of the identity of the area, and the forum in Preko additionally opened the question of how to make that offer more recognizable, more organized and stronger on the market.
Participants from tourism, science, winemaking and hospitality
The program gathered representatives of the Association of Winemakers of Zadar County Vina ZaDar, the company Maraska d.d., the University of Zadar, local producers, hospitality providers, chefs and oenologists. The moderator of the forum was Doris Pinčić Guberović, and the event combined panel discussions, presentations, culinary demonstrations and business meetings. In this way, the forum was not reduced only to a public conversation, but also served as a platform for connecting stakeholders who can develop concrete collaborations.
At the presentation stands of the Association of Winemakers of Zadar County, Wine & Olive Oil Esencija – OPG Bobanović Radoslav, Vinarija Boketa, Vina Bora, Vinarija Degarra, Vinarija Jokić, Vina Velebna and Vina Vinketa presented themselves. The company Maraska d.d. took care of the welcome drinks, which further highlighted the connection of Zadar’s beverage tradition, local production and tourism presentation. This form of gathering is important because it gives winemakers and producers the opportunity to present their offer not only to the final audience, but also to hospitality providers, tourism workers and other partners.
The special value of the forum was that different parts of the same system met in one place. Tourism cannot develop a convincing enogastro story without agriculture, hospitality cannot build authenticity without local products, and producers find it harder to reach market visibility without quality tourism interpretation. When these segments are connected, a product is created that can be recognizable both to guests and to the local economy.
Island identity as an advantage, but also a responsibility
One of the important program highlights was a panel with island stakeholders. It included Ante Burmaz from the Žampera family farm from Dugi otok, Ana Matulić from the Matulić family farm on Pašman, Andrijana Vidaković from Konoba Dido Šime in Muline, Prof. Dr. Sc. Božena Krce Miočić from the Department of Economics of the University of Zadar and chef Renato Kraljev, teacher, mentor and author of the “Indigenous Cookbook of Zadar County”. Their participation opened space for a conversation about how island communities can preserve their own distinctiveness, while at the same time developing an offer that corresponds to contemporary tourism expectations.
Island products and hospitality stories often have a strong emotional value because they arise from family work, local recipes, a specific environment and the everyday life of the community. But precisely because of this, there is also a danger that authenticity may turn into a superficial tourism label if it is not accompanied by quality, knowledge and responsible management. The forum showed that island enogastronomy is increasingly viewed as a combination of heritage and professionalization: it is necessary to preserve the local character, but also to raise the standards of presentation, service, communication and availability.
For Ugljan, Pašman, Dugi otok and other island areas, enogastro content can be an important tool for extending the season. Culinary workshops, themed dinners, tasting rooms, visits to producers and smaller events can create a reason for arrival even outside the main summer months. In that sense,
accommodation near the event venue in Preko is not only a logistical detail, but part of a broader tourism experience that includes staying, moving around, local shopping and getting to know the destination.
A female perspective in the wine industry
The wine panel titled “Female Perspective” brought together female experts working in education, production and oenology. Participants included graduate engineers of agronomy Marina Pavlović from the Department of Ecology, Agronomy and Aquaculture of the University of Zadar, Marina Radulić from Kraljevski vinogradi in Petrčane and Cvita Eškinja, oenologist from Vinarija Jokić in Lišane Tinjske. The topic was particularly important because the wine industry, although deeply based on expertise, tradition and field work, is increasingly opening space for the visibility of women in different segments of production and management.
Such a panel contributes to a broader understanding of the wine sector as an area in which science, agronomy, the market, heritage and personal professional experiences meet. The role of women in viticulture and winemaking is not only a matter of representation, but also a matter of perspective: from work in the vineyard and cellar, through quality control, to the development of labels, communication with the market and consumer education. In the context of Zadar County, where wine identity is built through several areas and different styles of production, such discussions can contribute to a more modern and more inclusive presentation of the sector.
Winemaking in the Zadar region has a long historical foundation, and the official tourism offer of the county highlights wine routes that lead through different parts of the area, from Ravni kotari to the coast. But contemporary wine tourism does not depend only on the quality of wine. It is increasingly important how wine is explained, where it is tasted, who tells the story of the vineyard and what kind of relationship is created with the visitor. Precisely for this reason, the forum in Preko viewed wine as part of a complete experience, and not only as a product on the table.
Chefs as interpreters of local flavors
The gastronomic part of the program was led by chefs Josip Vrsaljko, Gregor Podržaj and Livio Perin, who guided the participants through the flavors of the Zadar region. Vrsaljko, a Zadar chef, teacher and culinary mentor, is known for working with new generations of chefs, which is especially important for the sustainability of the gastronomic sector. Without educated and motivated young chefs, local cuisine can hardly receive a contemporary interpretation that will be both credible and attractive on the market.
Gregor Podržaj, although he comes from Slovenia, has transformed his long-standing interest in Kali and the island of Ugljan into cookbooks and gastronomic writings. His example shows how local cuisine can inspire even those who are not originally tied to a certain area, but get to know it through people, customs and everyday life. Livio Perin from Kali, owner of the well-known Šiš-Mar craft business, represents the link between island work, local food and a recognizable hospitality offer.
In such a context, chefs are not only performers of recipes, but interpreters of identity. Their task is to find a balance between a traditional dish and contemporary presentation, between a local ingredient and the guest’s expectations, between simplicity and innovation. The Zadar region, with fish, olive oil, wine, island products, cheese, vegetables and rural ingredients, has a wide space for such interpretations. But quality depends on how much producers, restaurants, educators and tourism workers are connected with one another.
Institutional support and awarded producers
The gathering was attended by the prefect of Zadar County Josip Bilaver, president of the County Assembly Ingrid Melada, deputy prefect Robertino Dujela and numerous representatives of local and regional self-government, tourist boards and the chamber of commerce. The president of the Croatian Association for Tourism and Rural Development “Village Members’ Club” Dijana Katica also attended the event. Such institutional presence shows that enogastronomy is increasingly clearly viewed as a development topic that connects tourism, agriculture, the economy, education and rural space.
As part of the event, a ceremonial reception was also held in honor of the winners of international recognitions for the best enogastro producers of Zadar County, as well as the winners of the “Sunflower of Rural Tourism – The Sunflower Award” for 2024 and 2025. On that occasion, prefect Josip Bilaver greeted the award winners and presented them with commemorative gifts. Recognitions for rural tourism and enogastro producers are important because they publicly confirm the work of stakeholders who often operate outside large tourism centers, but strongly contribute to the identity of the destination.
The project “Sunflower of Rural Tourism – The Sunflower Award” is directed toward recognizing excellence in rural tourism and different categories connected with sustainable development, local initiatives and tourism products. For Zadar County, such recognitions carry additional weight because they confirm that the value of the destination does not rest only on the coast and urban attractions, but also on the hinterland, islands, family farms and small producers. Precisely this diversity can be the foundation of a stronger position on the tourism market.
Preko as a stage for a conversation about the future of the destination
The choice of Preko for holding the forum carries a symbolic and practical message. Island destinations are increasingly looking for ways to extend the season, retain local value and develop content that will not disturb the character of the place. Enogastronomy can thereby be one of the most natural tools because it relies on existing resources: food, wine, olive oil, recipes, family farms, fishing tradition and hospitality. When these elements are connected with a quality program and available
accommodation for visitors to Preko, the destination gains an additional reason for arrival.
The forum in Preko should therefore be viewed as part of a broader process, and not as an isolated event. In recent years, Zadar County has emphasized, through various programs and public initiatives, the importance of authentic experiences, local gastronomy and higher-quality tourism positioning. In that process, the key will be the ability for events, workshops, wineries, restaurants, hotels, family farms and tourist boards not to develop separately, but as an interconnected system.
Such a system can contribute to greater consumption of local products in hospitality, better visibility of small producers, a stronger identity of rural and island areas and the development of an offer that is not dependent only on the summer months. At the same time, the success of such a model will depend on continuous investment in quality, education, promotion and a clear destination story. The forum “Experience, quality and story” in that sense sent a simple message: the enogastro offer of Zadar County has content, actors and heritage, but its long-term strength will depend on how successfully these elements will be connected into a credible and recognizable experience.
Sources:- eZadar – announcement of the enogastro forum in Preko and the program framework of the event- HRT Radio Zadar – information about the 5th Day of Wine and Gastronomy of Zadar County- Zadar County Tourist Board – official overview of the region’s gastronomic offer- Zadar County Tourist Board – wine route and wine offer of Zadar County- Zadar County – Tourism Development Strategy of Zadar County until 2030- Zadar County – earlier edition of the Days of Wine and Gastronomy and the goals of connecting local production with tourism- Zadar County – meeting with winemakers and focus on stronger branding of local wines- Sunflower of Rural Tourism – The Sunflower Award – official information about the project and awards
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