July 13, 2015 - The Croatian tourism numbers are the subject of national discussion once again. A comparison to 1990 statistics and some thoughts on strategy. 

Something is not quite right. 

It is a record season, say the statistics, and yet private renters are complaining that they are empty. 

Croatian tourism introduced a transparent tourism statistics reporting system, which won international awards for its transparency - "the information is available in real time for research and destination management," said UNWTO - and then Croatia restricted access to the information. 

Istria seems to be doing as well as usual, but there is no doubt that Dalmatia is down. Emptier roads, ferry queues etc point to that fact. 

Here is Jelsa on July 8 at 19:25, above, and 22:00. Back in 1983, Jelsa was voted the top destination in former Yugoslavia. 

And yet places like Split are full (as confirmed by many locals), but there were almost 500 available places to stay on Booking.com along on the first night of Ultra Europe. We answered the Split question in this recent article - Is Split Full? VERY. Are Apartments Empty? VERY. The Shocking Explanation.

Huge oversupply of private accommodation. Just how much Kreso Macan explained yesterday in this article, and the reasons why - there has been a 25% increase in private bed accommodation in Croatia in the last three years. Staggering. 

That got me thinking. How did the numbers of tourist arrivals, overnight stays and accommodation breakdown with previous years. I contacted the Croatian National Tourist Board for some official statistics. 

I have been critical of CNTB on several occasions, but one thing I will commend them for is the quickness of their response. They are easily the best public institution in terms of response time. And light years ahead of the Ministry of Tourism press department, which still could provide a simple answer after 17 phone calls, several emails and two months. 

The information CNTB sent me is below - a comparison between 1990, the last big season before the way, and 2018, the latest record-breaking season. 

1990 - Number of tourist arrivals - 8,497,000

2018 - Number of tourist arrivals - 19,700,000 

Percentage increase of tourist arrivals from 1990 to 2018 - 131%

1990 - Number of overnights - 52,523,000

2018 - Number of overnights - 106,000,000

Percentage increase of overnights from 1990 to 2018 - 101%

1990 Hotel beds - 142,917

2018 Hotel beds - 130,026

Percentage increase of overnights from 1990 to 2018 - MINUS 9%

1990 Private accommodation beds - 264,092

2010 Private accommodation beds - 428,464

2018 Private accommodation beds - 800,108

Percentage increase of overnights from 1990 to 2018 - 302%

1990 Total beds - 862,680

2018 Total beds - 1,266,785

Percentage increase of overnights from 1990 to 2018 - 46%

These are the full statistics from the CNTB report. So despite having 11.5 million more tourists and 54 million more overnights, Croatia has 9% less hotels beds today than it had in 1990. It is also a little strange to note that Croatia had 2,500 hotel beds less in 2018 than in 2017. 

But private beds? This has more than tripled since 1990, to more than 800,000. The population of Croatia is now less than 4 million, so that is one rental bed per five inhabitants including children.

None of these numbers should be a surprise to our tourism chiefs, as they compiled the statistics (and presumably look at them occasionally). So is this the official strategy? The apartmanisation of Croatian tourism, while restricting the development of hotels? It might seem that way to a number of big foreign projects on the coast where the land has been happily sold to them, and then the projects stop. We are in the process of compiling a map of this - the numbers run into several billion euro. 

And if that is not the strategy, then what is? 

The Ministry of Tourism published its 7-year plan from 2013 - 2020 some time ago, which gives us some insight into the strategy. Just a few months before we hit the final year of the 7-year plan:

Zero of the planned golf courses have been started, the only development is a 500 million lawsuit against the State from an Israeli golf investor. 

The sun and sea is not even looking that guaranteed due to climate change - does Croatian tourism have a Plan B? 

Wine and gastro-tourism is nowhere. We are proud that the original Zinfandel comes from Dalmatia, but Dalmatia does not have a wine road. How much revenue does gourmet tourism bring in compared to Germany, France, Italy or Spain? It is seven years since Anthony Bourdain told the world about Croatia.

International experts agree that Croatia could be in the world's top 10 for medical tourism within 10 years if Croatian officials could get their act together. As we approach the seventh year of the 7-year plan, we still don't have a task force. 

Do we really have 15,000 more berths for our nautical tourism?

And what exactly is the 2019 strategy moving forward? More apartments and hope the sun keeps shining?

I often get accused of having an agenda when I write constructively critical articles about Croatia. And - full disclosure - I have an agenda. 

I want the best for my family and children, and for this country, which means a proper approach to tourism development. The current approach is a total disaster. 

And rather than just criticise without offering a solution, here is what I would focus on - Branding Croatia: 5 Gifts and Trends to Focus On. 

July 12, 2019 - Not enough hotels, way too many apartments - one of the stories of Croatian tourism. But have you heard the one of too much tax, almost no tax at all? One reason so many people are turning to private renting. 

We are delighted to welcome Kresimir Macan to the TCN team. As the founder of Croatia's oldest PR agency and a former Communications Director to Prime Minister Plenkovic, Kreso understands the undercurrents of Croatian society better than most. His opening piece ventures into the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism, and a quite breathtaking look at who is paying tax - and who is hardly at all - in the tourist accommodation sector. You really couldn't make it up. Welcome, Kreso. 

Since so many seem to be surprised with current developments in Croatian tourism,  I feel motivated to explain that there is no accidental event that has lead us to the current situation. This strategy is not written in any official tourism strategy of Croatia, but it is the only strategy that actually works. It is showing great results, although not for tourism or the economy in general.

It is the tax incentive strategy which makes the private accommodation rental business in Croatia almost entirely tax-free.

I am not sure if this was an intentional plan, but as with most things in the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism, it just happened. The tax incentive strategy stimulated the development of private accommodation and put it in direct competition with the hotel industry. As previously reported on TCN, Croatia has a chronic shortage of quality hotels and international brands - compare luxury hotel brands in Croatia (with 1777km of coast) and Montenegro (less than 300km) below.

Hotel (15%) and camps (21%) make only 36% of Croatia’s accommodation, while private accommodations (52%) and other camps (11%) make 63%.

Looking at average capacity usage in the first half of 2018/2019, it is obvious that hotels are used at nearly 30% of capacities (quite a long season), while very profitable camps are around 10%. Private accommodation is used a little above 6%.

(Source Ministry of Tourism)

Looking at the numbers of beds and their growth in the last three years results are stunning – while hotel beds grew only 3,46% or 5.873 beds, private accommodation beds grew by a staggering 25,90% +127.609 beds.

A TWENTY-FIVE PER CENT rise in private accommodation beds in just THREE years. 

Why? It is simple – whatever income you make from them – it is practically tax-free.  In such a heavily taxed country like Croatia, this is quite incredible. It is a tax incentive strategy that happened by chance and nobody dares to control it. It is not the kind of tax incentive that brings investment and EU pensioners to Portugal in recent times. Because those things are thought out very carefully. Of this Croatian tax incentive strategy, nobody thought anything at all. Now they do not dare to change anything. 

How come? If you are a business with turnover bigger than 400.000€ in Croatia you pay and charge 25% VAT on every transaction, profit tax of 18% and additional 12% + surcharge tax depending on your local city regulations (Zagreb has 18, while most coastal cities 12%) if you want your profit out as cash, roughly 30% of your profit goes to the State in that scenario.

How it is with hotels and camps? They pay 13% VAT on every room they book and meal they serve in their all-inclusive offer, while their restaurants pay 25% VAT if someone walks in off the street, the same as restaurants elsewhere in Croatia. So at least every 8th euro goes straight to the State budget.

(Nenad Bakic wrote an interesting article on the imbalance - the ratio of hotel overnights is the lowest in Europe, a third of the EU average)

Additionally, hotels and camps pay above average salaries and all dues income taxes and health and pension insurances. According to Lider hotel salaries are significantly higher than those in restaurants (including management salaries) 9.717 kuna gross (1300€) or 6700 net (900€), while the average salaries in restaurants are very low 5,585 gross (750€) – net from 4300 kn (580€) just little bit above the minimum salary of 3750 gross (500€) indicating that part of the salaries in this business are paid in cash tax free. So we add more euros going to the State budget from hotels and camps.

(Bakic again - According to Eurostat, 50% of Croatian tourism overnights last year were in private accommodation. Slovenia - at 33% - was the only other country with more than 30%)

Additionally every hotel guest pays 10kn (1,3€) a day stay tax going to local tourist board supposed to run destination management (boravišna pristojba). The hotel industry claims that they give 31% of their prices to the State via different taxes and other concessions they have to pay.

But, as mentioned above, they make up only 1/3 of Croatian beds. So what Croatia does with other 2/3? 

Nothing.

No VAT – they pay a fixed tax per bed on an annual basis, as well as a fixed day stay fee per bed (350kn – 50€ a year). It is calculated that it is roughly 1.5-2% of their yearly income or some 100€ per bed you rent yearly. And this is all folks – you have to report number and details of guests via eVisitor. So if you rent a quality two-bed apartment for 100€ a day – after only a two day of rent you will have paid all your dues to the State. 

It is a tax-free paradise and who dares to change it now? 

The State did not want to change the fixed price per bed, as it would be unpopular. So they passed the responsibility to local government, most of whom have done nothing about it. It would be political suicide in a tourism town which lives mostly from rental income. How to lose votes and the next election, so better stay with the status quo.

Hotels rent apartments too – do you know how many times more they pay to state compare to private rental apartments?  15 times – FIFTEEN times.

And then we have two-thirds of  Croatia's tourism beds in a sector with growth of over 25% in 3 years – there are not enough tourists to satisfy such an offer. 

And the State gets peanuts from them. So let’s tax others that we can – hotels and camps – they have a longer season and better occupancy. 

In the meantime, private bank saving accounts in Croatia from year to year grow a steady 10 billion kuna (1.350 bn €) a year. Where from? Mostly from the tax-free paradise called private accommodation.

The tax-free strategy is very efficient for everybody, apart from Croatian tourism and the State. So do not ask what is happening, it is clear to everybody who invested heavily in private accommodation in the last three years. Unfortunately, the growth in the number of beds has outpaced the growth of overnight stays, and this leaves more and more beds empty.

The Kings are asking what is happening? The answer is clear - accidental tourism.

July 11, 2019 - When the tourism numbers are good, Croatian officials want to tell the world. So why the sudden change in transparency in another 'record' year?

I am one of the few people living in Croatia who has lived in the Soviet Union. 

It was a fascinating experience, although my time there was in 1991 just before the death of the county, and ironically the birth of another - the modern Croatian State - were a little more chilled than previous decades. 

Although the latter days of the Soviet Empire were considerably more relaxed than the Stalinist years thanks to Gorbachev's policy of 'Glasnost' (openness), there was still an element of information control. The Five Year Plan statistics may have been a thing of yesteryear, but life in Moscow in 1991 was a little different to Manchester on a wet Tuesday. 

And then I moved to the mighty State of Uhljebistan, a country with no borders which exists for the chosen few and their thousands of cousins within the territorial borders of the Republic of Croatia. 

Croatia is an incredible country, and I genuinely think I couldn't live anywhere else, but it is a rather unusual place once you scratch below the surface. I have written about this before, so no need to repeat - all is explained in this article and associated links - The 3 Stages of Learning for Foreigners in Croatia: Love, Hate and Nirvana. 

But for all the corruption, nepotism, inefficiency and complete lack of any strategy, occasionally a piece of absolute genius appears. So good, in fact, that it is hailed as the world's first and wins a coveted award from UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation), who even posted this slice of Croatian genius on the official UNWTO YouTube channel. 

I was stunned when the innovative eVisitor system was introduced in Croatia. In a land the company stamp, public notary and bureaucracy were king, here was an innovative, TRANSPARENT idea that allowed guests to be registered online, for data to be collected in real time, and - as the video above states - "the information is available in real time for research and destination management."

A tourism blogger's dream! UNWTO introduced eVisitor on their website like this:

eVisitor is a unique online information system that provides insight into tourist traffic and accommodation capacities (commercial and non-commercial) in Croatia. It generates statistical reports and marketing indicators in real time (i.e length of stay, location, gender, age, country of residence, type of facility, destination, etc), which enables more efficient monitoring of tourist traffic and revenues, allowing better control over the collection of accommodation fees creating a synergistic effect of all Croatian tourism stakeholders and contributes to ensuring their competitiveness.

Seriously impressive. In the digital age, Croatia was leading the way in digitalisation. I could not have been more proud of my adopted home country. 

And things were good. 

The obsession of the Kings of Accidental Tourism with numbers made eVisitor the perfect tool to show how brilliant they were. Tourism in Croatia was booming - in terms of those all-important tourist arrival and overnight stay numbers (who cares about the quality of the experience?), and eVisitor was the perfect promotional partner. Just look at how Split has changed in 9 years in terms of accommodation. Tourism is booming, and everyone is getting a part of the pie. 

Until things go a little too far, of course. The Split Tourist Board has delivered on increased tourism numbers, but apartments were empty. Too much oversupply. But the numbers were so good. 

And then, something happened. This outstanding example of digitalisation - hailed by global tourism bodies as a beacon of innovation, and a tool where "the information is available in real time for research and destination management" was suddenly not available in the same real-time format to the public, as it had been in the past. 

Respected tourism portal HRTurizam carried the news, as well as plenty of dissatisfied commentary:

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli announced at the press conference that he will no longer publish the monthly arrivals and overnight stays of the eVisitor system, but three times a year at the beginning of July for the first six months, in September with the main season results and end of the year as a final report whole tourist year.

"We want to approach tourism in a comprehensive way. The approach to tourism results and tourism is changing globally and it is difficult to track the results from Thursday to Thursday and be objective in such analyzes, as it is often about unparalleled data, due to holiday schedules and the like. This is not fair either to tourists or to guests. That is why we will no longer compare day by day, but we will do the presentation of "snapshots" for the pre-season, the main season and the entire tourist year "

If the numbers were as brilliant as we keep hearing, why the change of approach? What happened to "the information is available in real time for research and destination management."

The logical conclusion was that the numbers were not as good as planned, and the change was an approach to manage the bad news. Or perhaps they were. The conspiracy theories began.

I felt like I was Back in the USSR. 

In an EU democracy in 2019. 

According to HRTurizam, journalists can apply for the statistics each month, and they will receive them. Why the need for all this? Let journalists do their job, unless there is something being hidden. 

The Kingdom of Accidental Tourism is a unique place. First they surprise you with an innovative digital solution which kicks ass over the planet and is globally recognised. Then they make sure it can't be used in their home country. 

Ah, jebiga, where is my Soviet waiter? Pivo, pozhalujsta.

ZAGREB, July 9, 2019 - In the first six months of 2019, almost 6.9 million tourists visited Croatia and generated 26.2 million bed nights, which were increases of 6% and 3% respectively, compared to the same period in 2018 and all indications in tourism are good, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said on Tuesday.

"The first six months were positive in tourism and it is important that in the first three months foreign tourists alone generated 25 million euro more in revenue than for the same period in 2018 and that is in the pre-season when prices are lower," said Cappelli, who along with the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) Kristjan Staničić, held a press conference to present the January - June results in tourism.

Noting that official indicators still foresee that the year will conclude with an increase of 2 or 3 percent on the year, Cappelli underscored that he is not worried about the summer season either and particularly not with the post-season considering that that autumn already has good bookings. He said in those places where there were more investments in improving quality, the results and fullness are improving.

He considers that physical numbers (arrivals and bed nights) are important even though revenue is more important.

"Based on the Tourism Strategy to 2020, we have come close to physical numbers but we still haven't achieved the foreseen 14 billion in revenue for 2020, however we are somewhere in the vicinity of 12 billion euro. We will see how the entire year will end and in 2020, I believe that along with quality we can come close to that," he said.

Staničić said that the top 10 markets in the past six months were led by Germany, Austria, Slovenia, UK and Poland, which along with the Czech Republic and Slovenia, were the only three countries to record a decrease in Croatian tourism in H1 this year.

More tourism news can be found in the Travel section.

Even though I live in Varazdin, I always know when it is raining in Split and on Hvar. 

My Google Analytics Real Time shows two articles on the subject attracting hits as people who came for the sun and are met with the rain desperately search for some activity to replace the planned day soaking up the rays. 

Both Hvar and Split have content even on a rainy day, but there are many destinations along the coast which essentially offer sun and beach, and very little else. With the Adriatic coast famous for its excellent weather in general, this was never really a problem. Tourists knew what they were getting, and the Croatian tourism strategy was little more than 'wait and they will come.' If tourists wanted sun and sea, Croatia had that in abundance with little effort. Locals built apartments en masse, and everyone was happy. And suddenly, Croatia found that 20% of its GDP came from relying on the cleanliness of the sea and those fabled blue skies. 

But what if - as seems to be the case - climate change is real, and those idyllic temperatures and endless blue skies which are the bedrock of the Croatian tourism offer were to change?

It is no secret that freak weather is becoming more common. and perhaps Croatia's reliance on those faithful blue skies is a risky strategy. One only has to look around the storms that have occurred all over Croatia this week to realise that the old 99% guarantee of perfect weather is not looking as rock solid as it once was. 

As a pink Brit, I personally feel that things are a lot hotter than they used to be. When I first moved to Dalmatia in 2003, there were four distinct seasons. Now it seems on the coast that we go from the winter into a hot summer, and those four seasons have become two. I don't think I am alone. 

This is not an article about how bad this season could potentially be, although many destinations are reportedly far emptier (it should also be borne in mind that even if this season is 20% down on the last one, the continuous rise in the official statistics over the last few years will place things back to where they were a couple of years ago), it is more about what would happen if the prime attraction of Croatian tourism (the weather)  which contributes to 20% of the country's GDP cannot be depended upon to deliver as it always has in the past. Not only would the numbers suffer, but so do the GDP and the economy. 

You can see how several Croatian destinations have changed since 1969 and how they are projected to be in 2049 IF we stick to the Paris Climate Accord. Quite sobering, isn't it?

So does Croatian tourism have a Plan B? A strategy to diversify beyond slogans and strategy documents? And does it have enough content away from the beach to still attract tourists who cannot be as confident about the beach weather as they once were. 

In theory, and in slogans and strategy documents, it does. 

The Ministry of Tourism, for example, has committed to building 30 golf courses around Croatia between 2013 and 2020 in its strategic document. As we enter the second half of 2019 with 18 months to go, none have been started, and the only tangible development is a $500 million lawsuit against the State from a disgruntled Israeli investor from the Dubrovnik golf project. 

We proudly learn that the original Zinfandel comes from just outside Kastela, and yet the famous wine region of Dalmatia does not have a wine road. 

We are proud that Kings Landing is the home of Game of Thrones, a global superstar, and yet we have no sections about the hit HBO series on the websites of either Dubrovnik or Croatian National Tourist Board. 

We are proud of the amazing quality and diversity of Croatian cuisine, and that the late, great Anthony Bourdain recognised Croatia's 'world-class food, world-class wine, world-class cheese' - and yet compared to similar gourmet destinations such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain, Croatia earns only a tiny percentage. 

This season may be another record one for Croatian tourism (and official statistics for the first six months indicate this is the direction we are heading), or it may be sharply down on last year (as many are saying - and my evening out in Jelsa last night gives an indication of how busy things are there - see above (19:25) and below (22:00), but the bigger issue is where Croatian tourism is heading and how can it build more solid foundations in the event that climate change affects its prized jewel - its fabulous weather. 

The good news is that Croatia has some excellent potential to develop its tourism industry without such a reliance on the coast and beach tourism, if the Kings of Accidental Tourism were able to consider a real strategy to develop tourism for the long-term. One of the comments I have been getting from many locals up and down the coast this month is how empty some of the beaches are - and how nice that is. There is space for locals to enjoy their local beach in the summer. Wouldn't it be nice if that could continue and we could also have great revenue from tourism.

We can. 

Quite easily. 

But it requires a little bit of a rethink and a reboot. I have already written about Branding Croatia for the Future: 5 Gifts and Trends to Focus On. You can read in more depth in that article, but the key components of a diversified, more secure tourism future for Croatia, which will move the country away from mass tourism are the following:

1. Medical tourism - many experts agree that Croatia has the potential to be in the top 10 medical tourism destinations in the world within 10 years. In the world. If only their officials could unite. In addition to Croatia's clinics of excellence attracting health tourists, many of those patients would stay to recuperate. Medical tourism is an industry which is only going to get bigger. Croatia is in a great position to take advantage.

2. The digital nomad revolution. With some one billion digital nomads projected to be working remotely by 2035, Croatia is again perfectly situated to take advantage. Nomads come at different times of the year, generate money to fund their nomadic lifestyle and spend in the local communities where they stay. There is a LOT of buzz about Split as a new digital nomad destination right now - and the nomads are already here. You can meet some of them in our dedicated section. 

Imagine if Croatia, with its fantastic lifestyle and so many other advantages, could attract just 2% of that billion for part of the year. 20 million nomads, more than the current number of tourists visiting Croatia each year.

And if little Estonia can do, surely Croatia can too? Check out how and why Estonia is attracting so many international visitors in the video above and also in Lessons from Estonia: Farewell Uhljebistan, Welcome to the Future? 

3. Embrace the future and technology. Croatia is the land of Rimac and the birthplace of Tesla - two incredible icons of technology. Manchester United has the Theatre of Dreams at Old Trafford. Turn Tesla's birthplace in Smiljan into something outstanding. Most tourists come to Croatia by car and there will be 21 million electric cars on the road by 2030. Build the temple, celebrate technology, educate, build Tesla-inspired attractions. And those joining the electric vehicle revolution will have reasons to visit one of the most important focal points - the birthplace of Tesla. 

4. Capitalise on Croatia's phenomenal sporting success and natural beauty. The 2018 World Cup success was one of the greatest tourism gifts ever, one which Google Trends tells us was wasted. But there are so many other ways to attract sport to Croatia and the healthy lifestyle. That wonderful Croatian lifestyle. Learn from - and support - great initiatives such as the Run Croatia project, which is developing year-round tourism to Croatia. Learn more about it here. 

And we haven't mentioned the beach once. 

And if golf is your thing, build a couple of those golf courses, but try not to get sued for 500 million each time. 

And maybe create that Dalmatian wine road rather than just telling people about the original Zinfandel. Tourists apparently like content once they arrive. 

And use that fabulous Bourdain promotion and put action into words - Croatia should be getting close to the gourmet tourism revenues of its European neighbours. Pay some consultants to figure it out for you if you don't have the knowledge. 

Several very simple ideas, all of which are not weather dependent and move Croatia away from its crazy obsession with cruise ships and mass coastal tourism. 

And if climate change is a hoax, all the better - and there will also be plenty of space for locals on the beach.

July 7, 2019 - A year after Croatia's incredible success at the World Cup in Russia, Google Trends reports on how the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism took advantage of this free gift. 

It was a unique moment in time, and arguably the most joyous in the history of Croatia. And even though this Englishman felt the pain of semi-final defeat, one could not but wish this plucky and tiny nation which dared to dream all the best.  

(Photo credit Slobodan Kadic)

As incredible as the heroics on the pitch were, it was also the warmth and passion of their travelling fans which injected so much enthusiasm for Croatia all over the globe, aided of course by THAT shirt. 

Although I have been to 95 countries and lived in ten, I have never experienced a euphoria quite like the one that swept through Croatia on those balmy days in July.  

And despite the pain of defeat in the final, the very best was yet to come - an incredible 550,000 people on the streets of Zagreb waiting to welcome their heroes home. Even Index.hr, Croatia's most popular website and a big critic of many things happening in The Beautiful Croatia, announced that it would only write happy stories until the World Cup was over. Croatia was a different country, and it was an exhilirating time to be in the country. 

And the media coverage was unprecedented. More than 60 BILLION impressions on articles about Croatia in those days in mid-July, more online mentions of Croatia than the rest of the entire 27 years online, according to media monitoring company, Mediatoolkit. 

A tourism gift to beat all tourism gifts, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that branding football with tourism was a total winner. Did it? 

Fate even played its hand. While nobody expected the Croatian team to do so well, a promotional video by the Croatian National Tourist Board several months before the finals was the perfect tool to take advantage. As BBDO director Luka Dubokovic, whose agency was behind the video, explained in a TCN interview how the video was adapted to local markets after the unexpected success, there was some short-term reinforcement of the message.

Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, Kristijan Stancic, announced days after the final how he expected things to impact Croatian tourism:

"Although it's difficult to speak about concrete figures and how much of this success will be translated into more arrivals and overnight stays in Croatia at the minute, a positive impact is expected, and almost all of our partners in key emitting markets, especially from France, the USA, Italy, Austria, Great Britain, Russia and others, have confirmed that such expectations are realistic.''

And then... nothing. 

And looking at the results of Google Trends, a useful tool which shows how much a keyword (in this case, Croatia) is searched over time (see lead photo), it was as though the World Cup - and the gift that came with it - never happened. 

But not everyone was blind to the potential of tourism promotion and tourism.  Tiny Rwanda, a small Central African nation which had never been to the World Cup or had a player in the Premier League (indeed only 20 Rwandese players have every played professionally outside their home country, mostly in other African states) took the initiative by linking up with Premier League giants Arsenal in a successful partnership. You can learn more about it in the video above and Lessons from Rwanda: Promoting Tourism Through Football, African-Style. 

It remains to be seen if Director Stancic is correct in his optimistic predictions of a year ago, as many people report tourism traffic sharply down on a year ago. One thing is clear - the golden opportunity afforded by last year's euphoria on the football pitches has not been cashed in. 

It is always easy to criticise, without coming up with solutions. So here is a blueprint, easily doable and playing to Croatia's sustainable strengths to develop its tourism 12 months a year - Branding Croatia for the Future: 5 Gifts and Trends To Focus On.

While tourists flock to Croatia’s coastal destinations, opt for the booming capital, or bake in the sun at its national parks, there’s another lesser-known area in the country that isn’t on the edge of overtourism - Slavonia. 

Among all the developed destinations is Croatia’s east and Slavonia, though not even many Croatian citizens know about the varied tourism offer they can find here. 

“I was born in Zagreb and grew up there, so I was surprised at how many tourist attractions the Vukovar-Srijem County actually offers to its visitors. I do not think anyone will regret coming for a holiday in this area because they will really have something to see,” says Director of the Nijemci Municipality Tourist Board, Katarina Šarkić, for Večernji List on July 7, 2019.

And there are plenty of opportunities for you to recharge. The offer is more diverse and easier on Croatian wallets, and the hosts are so hospitable you’d be hard pressed to find them anywhere else. So, for example, in the Nijemci Municipality, we have a Bird Watching Center as well as a tourist boat on the rivers Spačva and Bosut, Šarkić added. 

Furthermore, the area also offers accommodation in “Robinson Crusoe” style tourism. Ilok is widely known for its vineyards and forts on the banks of the Danube. Vinkovci is the oldest city in Europe and is proud of the fact that the city's life is continuously growing over 8,000 years. It is also known as the only city in Croatia where two Roman Emperors were born - Valens and Valentinian. Vukovar is currently the most interesting for tourists as a city of war tourism, which witnessed the 1991 massacre. There is also the Park Forest Adica as well as the most modern swimming pools in Croatia.

In Vukovar-Srijem County, there are attractive museums, cycling trails and numerous events from year to year that draw more and more tourists from all over Croatia and abroad.

Osijek-Baranja County also offers a world of content, like the Kopački Rit Nature Park, which is the largest and most attractive preserved intact wetlands in Europe. Đakovo offers the famous Lippanzer horses, and those who prefer to visit thermal baths can go to Bizovac. The Drava also boasts the famous bathing area with the Kopika pools.

Baranja is even awakened by tourism. In addition to many events, guests in the area can enjoy numerous cycling trails, museums, excursion sites, and swimming pools. And the prices? Accommodation can be found for 150 kuna per person.

“Coffee is eight kuna, juices are 10 kuna, beer starts from 12. Pizza can be eaten for 30 kuna, and you can also find grilled meals around that price. A portion of grilled carp, say, you’ll pay 45 kuna. And pancakes for dessert are 20 kuna.”

"It is worth it, there is a lot of content and I believe that year to year it will be better and better. I think that all the tourist workers should cooperate, because we will achieve even better results,” Director Šarkić concluded. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

ZAGREB, July 2, 2019 - The Croatian association of restaurant owners warned on Tuesday that the excessive tax burden was threatening the hospitality sector and called for VAT on food preparation and serving in restaurants to be reduced from 25% to 13%.

The association warned that the tourism and hospitality sectors were on the verge of collapse in this situation of having to pay the highest VAT rate in Europe.

Speaking on behalf of restaurant owners, Marin Medak and Vedran Jakominić told a press conference that they would address their demands to the government and relevant institutions to save the tourism and hospitality sectors which are facing a collapse due to high taxes.

The situation is alarming and it is time for the government to finally open a dialogue with the hospitality sector, they said.

Medak underscored that Croatia had the highest VAT rate on food preparation and serving in the Mediterranean and one of the highest in the EU.

"We urgently call for the VAT rate to be reduced to 13% and for the 3% consumption tax to be abolished because these rates are making it impossible for us to adequately pay local workers who we would rather employ than foreigners," he said.

"It is humiliating to watch people emigrating while the government is sending messages that the employers are insatiable," Jakominić added.

He presented data from the FINA financial agency according to which more than 120,000 enterprises last year employed 882,884 workers and reported a turnover of 680 billion kuna, 22 billion kuna in profit or 3% of the turnover.

The association said that the quotas for foreign workers were a temporary solution and that Croatia requires an effective and long-term tourism and hospitality development strategy, which will among other things, enable Croatian workers to stay in Croatia rather than having to emigrate.

More news about Croatian tourism can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, July 2, 2019 - Six Korean police officers will be assisting their Croatian colleagues in major tourist destinations during July and August as part of the "Safe Tourism Season" project.

"This is the first time that Korean police officers will be part of this project and they will be located in Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik. Their task is to help Croatian police officers in communication with Korean tourists," Zagreb police chief Marko Rašić said on Tuesday, presenting the 13th edition of the Safe Tourism Season project.

Considering the excellent experience with our Chinese colleagues and tourists last year, this year should be just as successful with our Korean colleagues, Rašić added.

Korean Vice-Consul Junghuyun Park expressed satisfaction that Korea had joined the project to assist Croatian police officers with Korean tourists.

The Korean Embassy in Zagreb has gladly joined this commendable project and I am sure that it will contribute to cooperation in other areas too, Park said.

Ivana Mahnić from the Zagreb Tourism Board said that Zagreb had become a very popular destination for Korean tourists and that 100,000 Koreans visited the city last year, which put them among the most numerous foreign visitors in Croatia's capital.

The Safe Tourism Season project includes foreign police officers, and the first to join the project were Hungarian police, in 2006.

Over the years, a total of 804 police officers from 19 countries came to Croatia during the tourist season to assist their Croatian colleagues.

More news about relations between Croatia and South Korea can be found in the Politics section.

As Index writes on the 22nd of June, 2019, with a late Easter and excessively bad weather throughout May, the beginning of the Croatian tourist season is already a bit weaker than it should be, at least according to the claims of various tourist workers.

It might seem like a bit of on obvious statement, but the bad weather in May could have affected only those tourists who had already arrived, and because of the rain and the cold, and probably the boredom that comes with such weather in places like the Dalmatian coast, many would-have-been tourists in Croatia chose somewhere with more stable May weather, such as Spain.

Speaking in the present, this year's late Easter and a very rainy May are both behind us, the heat has well and truly arrived, the school holidays have begun, and hotel owners and private renters are expecting their guests. However, they all complain that this year they are less booked up than they were last year, but in spite of those claims, they're still not talking about any specific numbers. Some say shyly that they will be ''satisfied'' if their number of bookings from tourists are only five percent less than they were last year.

As Croatia still goes on and on the most about the number of overnight stays achieved and not about the much more complex overall economic effects on the country, Index decided to check out the prices of some of the accommodation in Croatia compared to that of other, comparable Mediterranean destinations.

Umag in Croatia is more expensive than Portugal, Spain, France, and even Italy...

In its proverbial sea of options, the all powerful Google readily provides information on the average price of accommodation in three star hotels.

Of the ten Croatian destinations the aforementioned newspaper chose to check, Umag is by far the most expensive. The average price of an overnight stay in a three star hotel in Umag stands at 1211 kuna! Not only is the most expensive accommodation in Umag in Croatia, but it's also the most expensive of all the destinations that were checked - from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco to Tunisia. The search didn't encompass Dubrovnik as Index wanted to avoid bigger cities, which would certainly be the only cities with bigger price tags than the Pearl of the Adriatic.

When it comes to competition on the Mediterranean, Umag closest to the popular Spanish island of Mallorca, where an overnight stay at a three star hotel costs 952 kuna on average. It's still 60 kuna cheaper than on the Croatian island of Krk where 1,012 kuna is needed for a bed, a bathroom and some breakfast in the morning.

Of the Croatian destinations, the cheapest is the magical island of Pag, where an overnight stay costs 610 kuna on average, Makarska is about ten kuna more expensive, and for under 700 kuna, you're looking at the island of Vis. Of course, this isn't all encompassing, but we're talking specifically about the average prices of accommodation in three star hotels.

For one night in the Croatian destination of Umag, you'll get three nights in North Africa or in Turkey.

The price of hotel accommodation is often the ''largest'' item to budget for when planning for holidays by far. It's quite easy to find cheap flights to any destination in the Mediterranean, and its often cheap even to fly to much more distant destinations.

The prices of average and below average accommodation in Croatia will have to decrease in the coming years.

The differences in price when comparing Croatian destinations to other similar destinations can hardly be justified, so the fact is, although it may seem a bit unfair to compare Croatia with the likes of Turkey, a tourism kind which subsidises its tourism a great deal, that it doesn't interest visitors.

How will Croatian destinations and their prices do over the next several years? With the return of former tourism kings such as Turkey and other countries from within Turkey's region which are recovering from conflicts, it's difficult to say what sort of sacrifices Croatia will need to make to keep hold of its beloved overnight stay count.

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