The Machineseeker EHF Champions League is coming to Croatia thanks to their cooperation with two new partners - the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Istrian County Tourist Board. The Machineseeker EHF Champions League is the premium handball club competiton, involving the leading teams from the top European nations, competing in European handball. This collaboration was established at the beginning of the 2nd half of the Season 2023/24, the cooperation covers two sports seasons, and with this, CNTB and TB Istria have become official destination partners of this elite European club handball competition organized by the European Handball Federation.
"We are delighted to welcome the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Istrian County Tourist Board to our elite men's club handball competition. With both communities as new partners, our goal is to set new sponsorship trends, and since both partners were already involved in handball, we are sure that the cooperation will only strengthen in the future", said David Szlezak, Managing Director of EHF Marketing.
With the prestigious sports partnership, Croatian tourism receives special benefits from a series of rights in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, ensuring significant visibility at all matches, as well as a digital presence on the eurohandball.com portal and EHFTV, the OTT platform of the European Handball Federation (EHF).
Kristjan Staničić, director of the CNTB, also commented on the new cooperation. "Cooperation with the European Handball Federation represents an excellent way of additional promotion of Croatia as an attractive tourist destination on numerous foreign markets, but also as a destination that, with its diverse offer and quality infrastructure, can prove to host major international sports events. Through this cooperation and hosting, we are strengthening the tourism identity of both Istria and Croatia as a whole in the long term. With this, our country will once again be in the focus of the sports and tourist public, and there is always significant visibility and promotion with special emphasis on our most important foreign markets, given that European league matches are played in as many as 19 countries. I am sure that all the participants from Istria and Croatia will take away only good memories and the desire to return to our country", said director Staničić.
Denis Ivošević, director of TB Istria, confirms that Istria has positioned itself on the tourist map as a lifestyle destination with a premium offer with a wide range of exceptional experiences. "This is the type of cooperation through which Istria successfully networks its comparative advantages with key and globally recognizable brands, which is why significant strategic partnerships have been concluded in recent years. At the same time, we are extremely proud of the sports orientation of our region, not only as hosts of sports spectacles and top athletes on fitness training in our destinations, but also through cooperation with TOP brands, which we are now continuing through a new exciting partnership. The prestigious cooperation includes the cities of Poreč and Umag as the cradles of handball and sports destinations, which in this project represent the Tourist Board of Istria," emphasized Ivošević.
On behalf of the City of Poreč-Parenzo, Mayor Loris Peršurić emphasized that Poreč is known as a city of sports and that handball plays a big role in all of this, while the Mayor of Umag-Umag Vili Bassanese emphasized that this year the city is celebrating the 70th anniversary of handball on its area, so being part of this project is a reward, honor and privilege for them.
