Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli has stated that the main desire is to further stimulate the growth of tourist traffic outside of the summer months through further projects, which will ultimately contribute to increased revenues.
As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 6th of August, 2018, eVisitor's statistics of the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) confirmed that there had been significantly lower growth in tourist traffic in July 2018 than there was last year, even hinting at potential stagnation when it comes to overall tourist arrivals.
While 10.5 percent more tourists arrived and 11 percent more overnight stays were acheived in July last year than the year before, this year only a 2 percent rise in overnight stays has been recorded this July.
In the period from January to the end of July this year, 11.1 million arrivals and 56.3 million overnight stays were realised in Croatia, which is 6 percent more when compared to the first seven months of last year.
These smaller turnovers in July were expected to some extent or another, given the circumstances, such as the recovery of former competitors across the Mediterranean, including Turkey, and the World Cup having taken place until mid-July, which is otherwise the height of Croatia's very seasonally limited main tourist season. At the same time, some of Croatia's top destinations, such as Dubrovnik, have been suffering with enormous crowding, meaning that tourism growth in the heart of the summer season wasn't even expected by some, at least not on the coast.
Minister Gari Cappelli commented on the importance of moving the country away from the restraints of the ''sunshine and sea only'' summertime destination, and the further positioning of Croatia as an all-year-round tourist destination.
"We're building the image of a quality all-year-round destination, and this year's tourism traffic results show that, as do our realised tourism revenues, which were 14 percent higher during the first three months [of 2018] when compared to the same period last year.
We're strengthening our reach with new emerging markets such as China, Japan and Korea, and it's a pleasure to note that in this period, over the past two years, we've recorded growth of more than 50 percent of tourism turnover from these more distant markets. Our wish is to further stimulate the growth of tourist traffic outside of the summer months, which will ultimately contribute to increased income, employment opportunities for a longer period and, in the tourism sense, stimulate the economic growth of all of [Croatia's] destinations,'' stated Minister Gari Cappelli.
HTZ director Kristjan Staničić also pointed out that he is actively working on the post-season, and in such promotional activities he intends to use the recent dazzling success of the Croatian football team in the World Cup.
Click here for the original article by Marija Crnjak for Poslovni Dnevnik
