As Zagreb is preparing for this year's Christmas market, this week the New York Times ran a piece on fashion accessories and designers in the Croatian capital, the City of Zagreb Tourism Board said on Friday.

The article was written by Kristin Vukovic, presenting original fashion accessories such as the cravat, handmade bags, hats and umbrellas and Croatian fashion brands and designers, including Croata, Etno Butik Mara, Kobali hats, Cerovecki umbrellas and the goldsmith Mario Nokaj.

Zagreb was described as the capital that “dresses to impress”, where “influences from nearby Italy and remnants of its Austro-Hungarian past, along with traditional symbols paired with contemporary design, create a distinctive flair.”

The Tourism Board said that the New York Times was one of the most popular daily newspapers in the United States and that they were working with it on the promotion of the Croatian capital.

Asked by Hina if everything was ready for tomorrow’s opening of the Christmas market, known as Advent Zagreb, the Tourism Board said that preparations were going according to plan and that most of it was ready.

The opening of Advent Zagreb begins on 27 November with the lightning of the first Advent candle on the historic Mandusevac Fountain in the main square Trg Bana Jelačića. The event will be taking place at several locations in the city centre until 6 January 2022.

The Tourism Board hopes that this year’s Christmas market will attract many local and foreign tourists despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

By 25 October this year, Zagreb had been visited by about 555,000 tourists, who generated 1.2 million overnight stays, which are increases of 69% and 63% percent respectively compared with the same period in 2020. Compared with the record pre-pandemic year 2019, overnight stays this year reached 52% of the figure for 2019.