The latest statistics of the ninth edition of the Zagreb Advent festival which will end in a few days show further marketing effect from winning the title of the Best European Advent Destination over the past three years, reports Poslovni.hr on January 2, 2019.

However, this Advent has brought about a smaller growth compared to 2017, at least as far as the guests who have been registered with the Zagreb Tourist Board are concerned. According to the eVisitor data, in the first 29 days of Advent 2018, 117,100 visitors realised 214,300 overnight stays, which is 13 per cent more overnights and 9 per cent more arrivals than in the same period of 2017. During this period, the number of Croatian visitors was 38,800 (+9 per cent), and the number of foreign visitors was 78,200, which is 9 per cent more than 2017. Of the total number of overnight stays, Croatian tourists realised 67,200 overnights, which is 14 per cent more, while foreign guests realised 147,000 overnights, which is a 13 per cent increase.

The previous edition of the Zagreb Advent saw a growth of 23%. While in past years, the most numerous guests were those from Italy, this time Italian guests have been overtaken by guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by Italians, Slovenes, Austrians, and guests from Germany, Serbia, Asian countries (Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines) and Korea, the United States and the United Kingdom. Most of the overnight stays were recorded by visitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Great Britain, Serbia, USA, Asian countries and Korea.

However, these data do not include a substantial number of one-day trips. Also, when calculating the financial effects, we must not forget the significant contribution of citizens of Zagreb. The study conducted by the City of Zagreb two years ago in cooperation with the Institute for Tourism showed that the 2016 Advent was visited by a total of between 3.3 million and 3.8 million people, and 49 per cent of visitors in the period came to Zagreb specifically for Advent.

Advent also gave an extra momentum to the year-round tourist season in Zagreb, which still exceeds the national average. From the beginning of the year to 29 December, the number of arrivals was 9 per cent higher and reached 1.39 million, while the number of overnight stays was 2.49 million (+10 per cent). Most visitors were from Korea, USA, Germany, Italy, China, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain and the United Kingdom.

More news on the Zagreb Advent can be found in our Travel section.

Translated from Poslovni.hr (reported by Marija Crnjak).

A rather special Advent celebration.

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