Angela Hughes arrived in Rijeka aboard the Explora II cruise ship and filmed the city for a new travel project
American luxury travel expert Angela Hughes stayed in Rijeka on Sunday, August 9, 2026, where, during her first visit to the city, she explored local culture, gastronomy, historical layers and lesser-known locations. According to a post by the Rijeka Tourist Board, Hughes arrived in the city aboard the Explora II cruise ship and used part of her stay to film material for a new travel project in which Croatia will be one of the featured destinations. The visit was organized in cooperation with the Rijeka Tourist Board, the Kvarner Tourist Board and the Croatian National Tourist Board, with an emphasis on promoting Rijeka and Kvarner in the American market. The focus of the program was not only on the best-known landmarks, but also on places and stories that can reveal the everyday character of the city and offer a different perspective from a standard tourist itinerary. According to the Rijeka Tourist Board, precisely this kind of approach is at the heart of the project Hughes is developing.
Hughes is the founder and CEO of Trips & Ships Luxury Travel and the founder of the educational platform Luxury Travel University. The official Luxury Travel University website states that she has worked in tourism for more than four decades, manages a network of more than one hundred independent luxury travel advisors and works with tourism brands and organizations in North America and international markets. For this reason, her visit to Rijeka is not merely a traditional media trip, but also a connection between the destination and a professional channel involved in shaping and selling travel experiences to higher-spending clients. The Rijeka Tourist Board states that cooperation with international journalists, travel advisors, agencies and other partners is an important part of the city's international promotion. In this context, a personal experience of the destination can become the basis for future recommendations, travel programs and content intended for an audience seeking individualized experiences.
A first encounter with the city focused on stories beyond the usual route
The sightseeing program included the Rijeka market and fish market, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Leaning Tower, the Rijeka Tunnel and Trsat Castle. According to the Rijeka Tourist Board, during her visit Hughes was particularly interested in the connection between local people, customs, culture and places that can be described as the destination's "hidden gems". This selection of locations clearly demonstrates why Rijeka can be interesting to travelers who are not looking only for panoramic sightseeing, but want to understand how trade, religion, military history, architecture and everyday life have overlapped in a single port city. For centuries, the city grew alongside the sea and the port, and its historical areas cannot be read as one coherent era, but rather as a sequence of different urban layers. It is precisely this complexity that provides enough material for a travel format based on personal encounters and less obvious details.
The Rijeka market is one example of how an everyday location can simultaneously tell a gastronomic and architectural story. According to information from the Rijeka Tourist Board, the main city market developed along the waterfront where fishermen unloaded their catch, while fish, crabs and shellfish had been sold under the roof of the fish market of the time since 1866. Construction of the two pavilions began in 1880 according to a design by Izidor Vauchnig, using a steel lattice structure and glass, which were modern solutions in European market architecture at the time. Today's complex is therefore not merely a place to buy food, but a document of Rijeka's development as a modern port and commercial city. For a project searching for local flavors and encounters with people, the market is a natural starting point because it connects ingredients, gastronomy and the rhythm of everyday life.
From a Baroque cathedral to 330 meters of military underground passages
The second part of the tour led toward the older layers of the city center. St. Vitus Cathedral, dedicated to the patron saint of Rijeka, is one of the city's most striking religious buildings. The Tourist Board states that construction of the present church began in 1638 according to a design by Jesuit architect Giacomo Briano, while it was consecrated in 1742. Its circular ground plan and Baroque interior distinguish it from the usual image of Adriatic cathedrals, while historical stories connected with the building intertwine religious tradition, urban legends and episodes from the period of the Napoleonic Wars. For a travel project seeking details beyond the classic list of attractions, stories like these create additional context and allow architecture to acquire a human dimension.
In the immediate vicinity is the Leaning Tower, the bell tower of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the official tourist description, it is a rarely preserved medieval monument in the city, leaning by more than 40 centimeters. The tilt is associated with the way its foundations were built and underground watercourses, which is why the bell tower acquired its recognizable nickname over time. Such a detail may not have the monumentality of major European attractions, but it is precisely characteristic of the kind of content Hughes wants to present: places remembered for their story, not only for their photograph. In Rijeka, such motifs appear within a short distance of one another, allowing the city's history to be discovered on foot through a series of mutually different settings.
A particular contrast to the religious and urban locations is provided by the Rijeka Tunnel. The Rijeka Tourist Board states that the first military tunnel in Rijeka opened to tourist visits is approximately 330 meters long and was dug by the Italian army at the beginning of the Second World War. It runs beneath the Old Town and today forms part of the public tourist infrastructure together with Trsat Castle. A visit to the tunnel opens a different perspective on Rijeka, a city whose strategic position throughout history brought economic opportunities as well as military importance. During a short city tour, visitors can therefore move from Baroque interiors and medieval fragments to underground architecture created during wartime.
Trsat Castle as the final stop above the city
On an elevation above central Rijeka stands Trsat Castle, one of the oldest fortifications on the Croatian Littoral. The Rijeka Tourist Board states that the castle is situated in a strategic position on a hill approximately 138 meters high, offering views toward the city and Kvarner Bay. Today, the site is no longer merely a historical attraction: it is used for exhibitions, educational content, concerts, theater performances and other programs. During the summer season of 2026, the Summer at the Castle event is also being held at Trsat, meaning that the medieval fortification is simultaneously used as a heritage site and a venue for contemporary cultural production. Such a combination fits the idea of presenting a destination through experiences that connect local history with the life of the city today.
According to the Rijeka Tourist Board's post, Hughes highlighted precisely the atmosphere, history and authenticity of Rijeka as elements that left a strong impression on her. It was her first visit to the city, but during the tour, the Tourist Board states, she found several reasons to return and continue exploring. The exact name of the new travel project, the format in which the material will be published and the publication date have not yet been stated in the available official announcement. It has been confirmed, however, that Croatia will be among the destinations included in the project and that the concept is based on experiences that go beyond the framework of classic tourist routes. For Rijeka, this is an opportunity to be presented to an international audience not only as a port or a starting point for the wider region, but as an independent urban destination.
In 2026, Kvarner places additional emphasis on gastronomy
The gastronomic aspect of Hughes's interest comes in a year in which Kvarner holds the international title of European Region of Gastronomy 2026. IGCAT announced that it had awarded Kvarner this recognition for its work on local gastronomy, cultural heritage and the sustainable development of tourism. During 2026, the region's tourism institutions are using the title as a platform for connecting hospitality businesses, producers, winemakers and other stakeholders, with an emphasis on local ingredients and the different gastronomic identities of the coast, islands and mountainous hinterland. In this context, a tour of the Rijeka market and fish market acquires broader significance: it is not merely about a single city attraction, but an entry point into the gastronomic story of the entire Kvarner region. For an international audience that increasingly connects travel with food, local producers and authentic experiences, this segment can be an important part of the destination's identity.
Current tourism data also show the scale of Kvarner within Croatia's tourism traffic. According to a report by the Croatian National Tourist Board, based on data from the eVisitor system and the integrated eCrew system processed on August 10, 2026, Kvarner recorded 1,887,208 arrivals and 9,741,413 overnight stays from January through July. This made the region third in Croatia by total number of overnight stays during that period, behind Istria and Split-Dalmatia County, with a share of 16.48 percent. In the same report, the American market accounted for about two percent of total tourist overnight stays in Croatia during the first seven months of the year. Although this share is significantly smaller than those of the leading European markets, American guests are important for travel segments in which long-haul travel, premium products, cruises and professional travel advisors play a major role.
Explora II fits into the growth of Rijeka's cruise traffic
Angela Hughes's arrival aboard the Explora II cruise ship also connects her visit with another trend important to Rijeka. The City of Rijeka announced in April that more than 30 cruise ship calls by various international companies had been scheduled for 2026 and that Explora II was expected to visit Rijeka ten times during the year. City authorities and the Tourist Board interpret this schedule as strengthening Rijeka's position in the cruise market, particularly in the premium and luxury segment. An important element for the city is the proximity of the passenger terminal to the center, because cruise guests can reach Korzo, the market, the Old Town and other locations in a relatively short time. For a destination seeking to convert some travelers from day visitors into guests who return for a longer stay, the quality of such a first experience can have long-term value.
Explora Journeys states on its official website that Explora II has 461 ocean-facing accommodation units and that the ship is 248 meters long. The company positions it in the luxury segment, with an emphasis on longer stays in ports and experiences connected with local cultures. This further explains why the arrival in Rijeka of a person professionally connected with luxury travel aboard this particular ship is interesting for the city's tourism promotion. Rijeka's goal is not to compete solely in passenger numbers with the largest Mediterranean cruise ports, but to build recognition through the accessibility of its center, cultural heritage, gastronomy and opportunities for more individualized exploration. Hughes's visit fits this model, because its value is measured not only by the number of hours spent in port, but also by the content that can reach a new audience after the journey.
For Rijeka, the key is moving from a short visit to becoming an independent reason for travel
Study and media trips do not automatically guarantee a larger number of guests, but they allow tourist boards to present a destination to people who communicate directly with travelers and the tourism industry. In Hughes's case, the combination of her work with end clients, the education of travel advisors and media activity is important. The Luxury Travel University profile states that she works with tourism organizations, cruise companies and other brands and focuses on luxury travel strategy and the role of advisors in purchasing decisions. For Rijeka, this means access to an audience that may previously not have viewed the city as a standalone reason to visit, but merely as one of the ports on a broader Adriatic itinerary. This is precisely where the potential of content emphasizing local stories and places beyond the best-known tourist routes lies.
Rijeka also has the advantage of a compact city center and a diversity of themes that can be connected within a short period of time: from the historic market and fish market to the Baroque cathedral, medieval bell tower, wartime underground passages and the castle above the city. Angela Hughes's visit demonstrated how these elements can be combined into an experience intended for an audience looking for more than a tour of the best-known points of interest. For travelers who would like to extend such exploration over several days, accommodation offers in Rijeka are also available, making it possible to combine an urban stay with the rest of Kvarner. Given the growth in cruise traffic, the region's gastronomy title and international promotional activities, 2026 opens up several opportunities for Rijeka to establish itself as a destination worth discovering beyond a one-day schedule. Whether Angela Hughes's new project will bring additional visibility can be assessed after the content is published, the details of which have not yet been officially announced.
Sources:
- Rijeka Tourist Board β official post about Angela Hughes's visit, the sightseeing program and cooperation between the tourist boards (link)
- Luxury Travel University β official professional profile of Angela Hughes and information about her roles in the luxury travel industry (link)
- City of Rijeka β information on scheduled cruise ship calls in 2026 and visits by the Explora II (link)
- Croatian National Tourist Board β statistical tourism indicators for January-July 2026, including data for Kvarner and the share of the American market (link)
- Explora Journeys β official information about the Explora II ship and its positioning in the luxury cruise segment (link)
- Rijeka Tourist Board β history and architecture of the Rijeka City Market and fish market (link)
- Rijeka Tourist Board β historical and architectural information about St. Vitus Cathedral (link)
- Rijeka Tourist Board β information about the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Leaning Tower (link)
- Rijeka Tourist Board β history and basic information about the Rijeka Tunnel (link)
- Rijeka Tourist Board β history and contemporary tourism role of Trsat Castle (link)
- IGCAT β confirmation of the title Kvarner, European Region of Gastronomy 2026 and the reasoning behind the recognition (link)