May 30, 2023 - June is days away, and the main part of the tourist season in Croatia has almost started. The Croatian Tourist Board expects excellent results. The announcements from the most important markets are very good, which was certainly helped by the declaration of the end of the pandemic.
This year, tourism in Europe will reach or exceed the record results from 2019, especially in the Mediterranean, while Croatia has already exceeded these results by June, pointed out the director of the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) and vice-president of ETC Kristjan Staničić, as writes Poslovni.
According to the first data from the eVisitor system, from the beginning of this year until May 27, Croatia was visited by 3.5 million tourists, with 10.7 million overnight stays, which is 27 percent more than in the same period last year and 3 percent more than in 2019.
Almost half of all arrivals, or 1.4 million and 4.8 million overnight stays, were achieved until May 27, which is also an increase of 3 percent compared to the same period in 2019, while this is a 24 percent increase compared to last May, said Staničić for Hina after he was re-elected as the vice president of ETC (European Travel Commission, an association of national tourism organizations based in Brussels).
He does believe that the time has come to make a move away from the tourist figures themselves and emphasizes the development of new experiences and motivation for arrivals in the pre- and post-season.
"The focus of everyone in the tourism sector must be on the sustainability of tourism and the positioning of Croatia as a year-round destination, which is what most of the activities are aimed at. There is an opportunity in distant markets, and it is also in the trend that more and more tourists see the ideal time for vacation before and after summer, without the high temperatures, crowds, and with lower prices," says Staničić.
"Croatia was highlighted at ETC meetings even during the pandemic as the most successful tourist destination, so expectations for this tourist season are high, but other ETC member countries also expect a good tourist year", says Staničić, adding that according to ETC research the intention of Europeans to travel is strong and that more than half of them have already booked their next trip, while 59 percent of them are planning two or more trips by the end of September.
When asked how the rise in prices in tourism affects demand, Staničić states that according to ETC research, more Europeans are worried about prices this year than last year, 24 percent versus 18 percent. The same is true of the attitude of concern about the general economic situation and personal finances, but they want to travel and think that they will spend more on travel in the next six months than before, but also try to save when planning, for example, travel more outside the main summer months when prices are more favourable.
The trend is that more arrivals of tourists from the USA are expected in Europe this year, where the number of airline seats for this season has increased by 15 percent compared to 2022, i.e. by 3 percent compared to 2019. Investments in tourism marketing and promotion in almost all countries have also increased.
"Most Croatian competitors are investing more in promotion this year than in previous years, they are very active in the market, some have withdrawn funds from EU funds, and some national tourism organizations have joined forces with the private sector, so everyone expects better results," says Staničić.
HTZ's budget this year of about 34.8 million euros is about 4 percent higher than last year, which, he emphasizes, are amounts that certain competitors exceed many times over, so he considers Croatia's success even greater.
Currently, HTZ implements the so-called main invitation campaign in 14 markets, whose messages have been seen by more than 150 million users through social networks and display advertising so far, so Staničić expects great effects through the achieved results of tourist traffic because, for example, HTZ's TV campaign in Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia and Great Britain encouraged their media to do additional filming in Croatia.
'Testing' of the new umbrella communication concept in the markets until the end of June
By the way, HTZ is in the process of selecting a new umbrella communication concept for Croatian tourism with a new visual identity and slogan, which should replace the current "Croatia, Full of Life". According to Staničić, the solutions of the selected bidders who entered the second phase of the tender have been received, and now the phase of testing the received proposals on foreign markets is coming up, which should be completed by the end of June.
"In the end, the final decision on the selection must be adopted by the Tourist Council of HTZ, and as this is a very important process for us that will determine the communication and promotion of Croatian tourism in the future, we want to be as thorough as possible and choose those solutions that will be best accepted, that is, which will best communicate the brand of Croatian tourism", concludes Staničić.
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