Croatian Ministry of Tourism states that the expected number of Russian tourist arrivals will increase by about 20 percent this year.
Croatian delegation, lead by the deputy tourism minister Robert Pauletić attended the MITT fair in Moscow on March 23, 2016, Ministry of Tourism reported in their press release.
During this visit, deputy tourism minister Pauletić, Rajko Ružička, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board office in Moscow and Boris Žgomba, the president of Association of Croatian Travel Agencies UHPA met with Russian officials Olga Yarilova, head of the Tourism and Regional Policy Department, and Olga Andonieva, acting head of the International Cooperation Department of the Russian Ministry of Culture.
All parties expressed their satisfaction with the establishment of a Croatian-Russian Working Team on Tourism Cooperation which is expected to hold its first meeting in Zagreb by the end of April and they will talk about their activities and cooperation plans for a three-year period. A B2B workshop for Croatian and Russian travel agencies will also be organized during the first meeting of this working group.
During the meeting, Pauletić proposed a possibility of organizing a Russian Tourism Week in Croatia which could be held between May 25 and June 20 to coincide with school holidays in Russia and give Croatia a chance to entice Russian arrivals before the high season.
Croatian delegation also met with the director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), Maya Lomidze, who stated that despite the current economic situation in Russia there is an increased interest in Croatia among Russian tourists.
„In spite of the fact that the number of Russian tourists has been decreasing in the last few years, Russian guests are extremely important to us because their average stay in Croatia is 8 days and they are great consumers, We are talking to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the possibility of introducing multiple entry visas in order to decrease the issuance fee for Russian tourists. I am very happy to see that the number of charter flights has doubled compared to 2015 and that our national carrier Croatia Airlines is introducing a direct flight Zagreb – St. Petersburg for the season” Robert Pauletić said adding that the ministry will work on further improving flight connections between two countries.
The Croatian Ministry of Tourism states that the expected number of Russian tourist arrivals will increase by about 20 percent this year compared with 2015 when 113,000 Russian tourists visited Croatia, generating 866,000 bed/nights or 1.08 percent of total bed/nights. This ranked them 16th among all foreign tourists visiting Croatia.
