April the 29th, 2021 - It's well known that German tourists have always adored Istria and all it has to offer, and even despite the coronavirus crisis, German license plates have still been seen in this beautiful part of the country. The German ADAC Reisemagazin places Istria in the spotlight again as German tourists seek a break abroad.

As Novac/Barbara Ban writes, as another very uncertain tourist season approaches us, Istria has once again received a lot of media attention in the German media, more precisely in ADAC's Reisemagazin, which is published six times a year and reaches 700,000 readers through its specialised channels.

This edition of the German publication has showcased the northern part of Croatia, including Istria, Kvarner and its islands, as well as Lika. Covering more than 20 pages, the ADAC Reisemagazin places Istria in the spotlight, highlighting its specialties - from culture and its rich historical heritage, to its excellent gastronomy and extra virgin olive oil, truffles, wine and prosciutto.

''In terms of marketing, the price of one page is above 20,000 euros, so it's very easy to calculate the media value of the presentation of Istria covering more than 20 pages. In this context, Istria continues to expand and strengthen its reputation through the influential ADAC. ADAC is the largest German and European automobile club with more than 21 million members. In addition to their camping guide; the popular camper "Bible" which is the most important source of information for German guests, this time the presentation of Istria was made in a specialised magazine produced by Motorpresse Stuttgart on behalf of ADAC and which also produces many other influential publications such as: Auto.Motor.Sport, Outdoor, PRO MOBIL Caravaninig and Motorrad and Men's Health.

This big project was realised with the assistance of our PR agent: the ART redaktions Team from Salzburg, which this year was named among the 10 most influential PR agencies for the German-speaking area in competition with more than 320 agencies that were also nominated,'' stated the director of Istria's Tourist Board, Denis Ivosevic.

He also added that Istria has taken a firm position at the top of the list of the most popular destinations-regions to which German guests want to travel, and as the ADAC Reisemagazin places Istria on 20 glossy pages, that number is certain to rise.

In an article entitled Coronakrise verändert das Reiseverhalten im Sommer/The crisis caused by coronavirus which is changing summer holiday habits, published initially back on October the 8th, 2020, the ADAC published the results of the most sought-after travel routes of its members throughout pandemic-dominated 2020. The survey included 350,000 inquiries, conducted between May and September. It turned out that the Istrian peninsula remained the first choice of members of German campers even in these difficult times of crisis, Ivosevic pointed out.

Namely, the famous German car club ADAC - Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, conducts testing on the topic of holiday travel by car between 1.7 million routes compiled for its members by ADAC experts each and every year. The research includes data on the use of ADAC's Routenplanner, which is used as information to trace itineraries to destinations where German travellers spend their holidays.

''ADAC members chose Istria for the first time as their favourite holiday region in the results collected back during 2010. From then until today - so longer than a decade - Istria has remained the leader on the annual list of planned trips of members of this German car club. After Istria, Upper Bavaria, South Tyrol, Lake Garda and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region have alternated in their rankings over the years. In addition, the popularity of Istria is increasing from year to year by several percentages. The flattering results of many years of ADAC research greatly contribute to the marketing distribution and better perception of Istria as a destination in Germany, the most important target market of Istrian tourism. In addition to that, diversification in relation to other tourist regions contributes to the strengthening of the Istrian brand and its media presence in the German and Western European area. The results of the ADAC research are published in the ADAC Motorwell magazine, which is published in more than 13 million copies, and on their website,'' added Ivosevic.

Of course, the German market is the most important for Istria, especially in this current situation. Last year, in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, Germany showed its great loyalty to this part of Croatia, arriving despite difficulties and uncertainties.

''Last year was extremely challenging for all of us. Nothing could be planned in either epidemiological or tourist terms, situations occurred and changed on a daily basis, guests' habits changed completely due to new rules of conduct, everything happened at the last second. In addition, the emitting markets reacted differently. Italy, Austria and the Netherlands almost "forgot" us. The Slovenians, Czechs and Poles achieved some excellent results, and clearly, as has happened many times before, the Germans have once again shown that they are our most important and most loyal market and I'd say an inexhaustible source for our tourism. This is especially important in the conditions we had last year. The Germans realised close to 35 percent of all overnight stays and if it weren't for them, the resuls of the tourist year would have been completely different, they wouldn't have been good. In terms of marketing, everything we do, the biggest result or conversion we get from the German market.

Therefore, these publications, targetted campaigns, strategic partnerships, PR activities, and especially the awards and recognition we've received from the German market, are always those which hold the most weight,'' concluded Ivosevic as ADAC Reisemagazin places Istria high on a very prestigious list once again.

For more, follow our travel page. For all you need to know about the Istrian city of Pula in 2021, bookmark Pula in a Page.

The German ADAC guide also points out that at the European level, the number of overnight stays in campsites and the growth of sales of camping vehicles are increasing by three percent, while the number of campsites is actually stagnating.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of January, 2020, this year's latest edition of the prestigious European Camp Guide from the German ADAC autoclub showcases the assessments of inspectors as saying that Croatian camps have recorded the highest qualitative increase in Europe (+2.1 percent), while approaching the first-ranked Netherlands, which has stagnated this year.

This year ADAC has included 134 Croatian in its list of the best European campsites, as many as eight more than in 2019. Three new campsites have also received the special Superplatz 2020 designation, which is awarded to the best European campsites, it was announced at the most important camping fair in Germany, CMT. , which took place in Stuttgart from 11 to 19 January 2020.

"The German ADAC has once again confirmed that Croatian camping has the potential to become the most competitive in the Mediterranean. We're proud of our members who invest every year in raising its quality, which was recognised by the guests and rated Croatian camping even better overall than in previous years. The constant growth we've been creating over the last ten years is an indicator of the importance of investing in the development of this sector, which significantly contributes to tourism and also to the entire Croatian economy,'' said Adriano Palman, Director of the Croatian Camping Union, the largest camping association that brings together 271 Croatian campsites.

As mentioned, the German ADAC guide also points out that at the European level, the number of overnight stays in campsites and the growth of sales of camping vehicles are increasing by three percent, while the number of campsites is stagnant. Among the camping guests in Croatia, traditionally the most important are those from the German-speaking area, to whom the German ADAC guide is an absolutely key source of information.

"Although Germans prefer to choose their own domestic market, when travelling abroad, Italy is the first choice and Croatia is second. This gives us optimism for the future because the results show that we're on the right track and we believe that we can be even better in the future,'' said Palman.

This is confirmed by data from last year, according to which, German-speaking guests were responsible for almost 1.2 million arrivals and 8.7 million overnight stays in Croatian camps in 2019, which is 45 percent of total amount of realised overnight stays in camps, marking an increase of two percent when compared to 2018.

The Croatian counties with the highest quality growth are Zadar (+4.5 percent) and in the continental part of the country - Karlovac and Zagreb County (both with +4.2 percent).

The campsites Aminess Camping Sirena from Novigrad, Istria Premium Camping Resort from Funtana and Camping Čikat in Mali Lošinj are three new campsites of thirteen who earned the Superplatz 2020 designation. In total, Lika-Senj County has one, Zadar two, Primorje-Gorski kotar County four and Istria County has six campsites in this prestigious category of the highest quality.

In addition, the Istria Premium Camping Resort in Funtana received special recognition from the German ADAC for being the first in the innovation and development category.

The German ADAC is used in the marking of the quality of the campsites with special offer tags - as many as 31 Croatian campsites are ideal for families with children, 21 are suitable for families with dogs, 19 stand out as attractive to naturists, while seven are fantastic in terms of their wellness offers.

In addition to the German ADAC, Croatian campsites have received additional sectoral accolades: Camping Mon Perin from Bale has been recognised as a "Best Selectcamp campsite" by Vacancesect, one of the largest tour operators in all of Europe, Polidor Camping Park from Funtana is the "Best Campsite in Croatia" according to Camping.info, one of the most popular camping websites in Europe, and Camping Njivice on the Island of Krk is ranked among the top ten best campsites on the Dutch ANWB, one of the largest campers' associations in the whole of Europe.

Croatia has a total of 433 medium-sized campsites and 301 smaller campsites. As many as seven campsites have the highest rating of five stars, while 66 have a four star category. High category campsites with four and five stars cover almost 50 percent of the total Croatian campsite capacity. In 2019, 19.2 million overnight stays were realised in camps.

Istria holds 49 percent of Croatia's total camping capacity, Dalmatia holds 28 percent, most of which is in Zadar. The strongest continental county by number of campsites is Karlovac, with eight campsites.

The German ADAC is a respected autoclub, founded back in 1903 with over 18 million members and is the largest such club in Europe. It has been publishing its campsite guide on a regular basis since 1950 and is considered as the most relevant indicator of quality within the sector.

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