Travel

ZAGREB, September 23, 2019 - There were 236,700 tourist accommodation facilities in Croatia at the end of August, which is an increase of 15,700 or 7.1% on the same period last year, and most of them were categorised as non-commercial or household facilities, while the number of hotels rose by 28 to 1,199. Data from the eVisitor tourist registration application indicates that there were 1.7 million beds in Croatia as of 31 August, which is 5% or 93,000 more on the year. Most of these, or 634,000, were in household facilities, representing a share of 37.3% of all beds, compared…

As Novac/Boris Oresic writes on the 22nd of September, 2019, the number of aircraft landing at Croatian airports and the number of passengers being transported around has never been higher in Croatia's entire history. It was the first time in July that one airport in Croatia had more than 700,000 passengers in one month - Split Airport, which opened a new passenger terminal just that month. Its director, Lukša Novak, who has been in his position since the early 1990s, reveals that 2.5 million passengers arrived at Split Airport during the first eight months of 2019, with an expected amount of…

Just like Goran Rihelj writes in his article for hrturizam.hr, this is a piece of news which we should've read ten years ago, but still - better late than never, and we're happy to report that the tourist boards of Hvar island have finally signed a contract to join forces! There are five tourist boards on Hvar (Hvar, Stari Grad, Jelsa, Sućuraj and Vrboska), each of them developing their own version and strategy of tourism. Sounds insane and counter-productive, right? They will continue to exist, but from now on, after they've signed the agreement, they will develop some projects and…

The director of the Hotel Quercus in Drvenik near Makarska, Tonči Andrijašević, wrote an article for Slobodna Dalmacija which details his review of the tourist season of 2019.  He mostly discusses the results achieved on the Makarska Riviera, which is the area where he works and knows best. He explains that there are around 35 thousand beds overall there. If we agree that all of those are filled during the 50 days of the high-season, and a guest spends around 50 euros each day overall, that means that 87,5 million euros will arrive along the Makarska Riviera during those days.…

It has been quite a year for Hvar heritage and the realigning of tourism on Croatia's premier island, with the official opening of Palace Elisabeth, hvar heritage hotel on September 21, 2019 the latest jewel in its crown.  It is a very strange feeling being a tourist in the place where you live.  Of course, coming from Manchester, that feeling would be all the more strange, but after living on Hvar for 11 years, I had the opportunity to be a luxury tourist on the island back in 2014 as I joined a group of international foodie journalists from Gastronaut…

September 21, 2019 - After Split recorded the highest tourist numbers in August, with more than 193,000 visitors, it looks like September will not disappoint.  On Friday, the Split streets, Riva and old city center were packed with happy tourists, who are usually visiting for the first time. Better yet, the tourists in town now are among the luckiest, as they get to know Split during its ‘Indian summer’.  Slobodna Dalmacija caught up with some of the tourists in town to find out what they’ve been enjoying most and why they opted to travel outside of the peak season.  "We…

September 21, 2019 - Could Biograd na Moru be Croatia's next big health tourism destination? HRTurizam writes that the last session of the Biograd City Council discussed the strategy of developing medical tourism in Biograd na Moru. The Strategy of Development of Biograd na Moru has defined tourism as one of the main drivers of economic development, especially health tourism, where Biograd na Moru sees a great opportunity. The backbone of all is the Biograd Special Orthopedic Hospital in the heart of the Adriatic, with an ideal climate according to the Koppen classification. As Biograd na Moru points out, the…

While amazing yachts, sailboats and other exclusive vessels are often seen in Croatia (sometimes even more than one at the same time near an islet smaller than both of them), it doesn't happen often that two of the most amazing sailing yachts in the world find themselves here at the same time.  The first one is Maltese Falcon, and 24sata writes about it currently sailing around Murter. It's unknown who is currently onboard one of the most luxurious sailboats in the world, but what is known is that a week's rental costs around 600,000 USD - and, if you have…

September te 20th, 2019 - While the renovation and the construction works were performed near Orlando's column right at the beginning (or the end, depending on the perspective) of Stradun, the main road in Dubrovnik Old Town, an unexpected discovery has been made. Dubrovniknet writes about the brick fields found and registered, and the bricks were laid down on the pavement in the shape of a fishbone. Although the exact period during which these bricks were set on Stradun has not been determined, it can be safely assumed that it was done after the city's proclamation from 1360, but before the…

If you know anything that lies beneath the surface-level of the tourism industry and you think of sustainable tourism, Croatia is likely not positioned very high on your list. The Croatian tourism ''strategy'' is questionable at best, and so is its old and incapable infrastructure when it comes to trying to cope with damaging, mass tourism. The likes of Dubrovnik, its incredible overcrowding, traffic, poorly prepared infrastructure and cruise ship hell are notorious examples of just how not to do things, and Croatia's UNESCO protected southernmost city is also the country's most famous tourist destination. Thankfully, there are several much…