November 1, 2021 - The 2021 Croatian camping offseason is in full swing and recording better results than ever. 

The offseason in Croatian camps, which make up a quarter of tourist accommodation, has recorded historical results, reports HRT. And all this despite being red on the European Covid map!

The atmosphere in some camps in Istria - both in terms of occupancy and weather - is more reminiscent of late spring.

An incredible picture in Funtana in western Istria is more suitable for September, not for the middle of autumn

" We walk around a little bit, take swims. We go to the city by bicycle," said Stevo from Slovenia.

With fifteen hundred guests, the camp is half full. Most guests are Germans, mostly vaccinated or with a Covid recovery certificate.

"The measures have been tightened in Germany, and we, as before, have decided to come here. The staff is friendly, the food is excellent," said Manuela from Germany.

"It is getting stricter in Germany; it is not like here," added Mathias from Germany.

"Mostly there was a larger share of mobile homes and a smaller share of campers, and this time we have a larger share of campers. Even the announcements for late autumn and winter are excellent," said the Valamar camp director, Bruno Radoš.

Since the beginning of the corona crisis, sales of camping vehicles have grown by forty percent in Germany. The desire for solitude, freedom, and proximity to the destination affected the excellent camping occupancy in southern Istria, especially loved by surfers.

"It’s already cold in the Netherlands, and the kids have school holidays, so it made sense to come here. We can't swim, but we visit historical centers, surf, and go camping," said Rustam from the Netherlands.

Here, September exceeded the record by fifty percent. As a result, many extended the camping season to October as well.

"So, from October 10, we are on some numbers of 500-600 people a day, which is essentially a filled winter contingent, and the sanitary facilities are heated," added the director of the Kažela camp AHG Alex Živković.

Without heated spaces, swimming pools, and mini clubs for children, the postseason would not exist as so.  

"Even children who are not usually left alone like to stay here with us alone. And the children are coming back to us," said animator Nina Putinja.

Judging by the growing interest of young camping families, the upcoming preseason could be highly successful in this sector. Of course, unless we are surprised by a new pandemic wave.

You can watch the full video on HRT.

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October 5, 2021 - When it comes to Croatian tourism, wine and camps are always part of the conversation in almost all regions of the country. In Međimurje, a family has combined both concepts, and it is thus that the Hažić Wine Camp has recently been recognized for its wine and accommodation offer.

This year, the Hažić family opened the first wine camp in Croatia, located in Međimurje, more precisely in Sveti Martin na Muri. As Turističke Priče reports, the aforementioned wine camp received the OK Mini Camps quality award and was thus included among one of the best small camps in Croatia.

''We are pleased to announce that based on the analysis of the quality of the content and service of our camp by the KUH commission, we are included in the list of 46 best small camps in Croatia'', said the Hažić Wine Camp.

This wine camp is the first camp of its kind in Croatia. It is located in the untouched nature of upper Međimurje, on the famous tourist route in the immediate vicinity of Terme Sveti Martin and the Mill House by the river Mura.

Photo: Hažić Wine Camp Official Facebook Page

The camp on the family farm Hažić offers 12 pitches for campers and eight wooden mobile homes, electricity, water, wi-fi, toilets, children's playground, grill area, laundry service, and pets are allowed. Otherwise, the entire Hažić Wine Camp was built according to the highest environmental standards with the category of four suns.

The camping pitches range in size from 80 to 110 square meters and bear the names of the most represented grape varieties in the Međimurje vineyards, which is another great example of connecting with a local and authentic story.

Međimurje got its first Wine Camp thanks to the Hažić family, which has been recognized for more than 30 years for quality local products such as wine, apples, and honey, and to their Hažić Family Farm and Wine House, they have now added the third in a series of investments, but certainly not the last.

Photo: Hažić Wine Camp Official Facebook Page

Apart from quality products, the Hažić, Biserka, and Radenko family, with their daughters Tatjana and Valentina, who continued the family farm, is also known for innovative ideas aimed at tourism and the agriculture sector, which is confirmed by this investment.

Međimurje is a top wine region

Međimurje is a top wine region, and proof of that are the numerous medals from last year's, but also this year's Decanter World Wine Awards, where it was confirmed that the best Croatian sparkling wines come from Međimurje. And this is no coincidence, since in 2016, for the first time in history, the first two medals arrived in Međimurje.

The camp offers accommodation to tourists who want to enjoy nature, fine wines, sparkling wines, juices, and other products from the workshop of the Hažić family.

Campers in the area can enjoy cycling, wellness services of Terme Sveti Martin, getting to know local cultural sights, enjoying numerous adventurous activities organized by the Accredo Center or a picnic with excellent local food and drinks of the restaurant Međimurski dvori, and at the request of the guest will offer delivery breakfast in the form of a pinklec basket on the plot. Guests and tourists of the camp can also enjoy local products from Međimurski štancun.

Photo: Croatia.hr

Located in the fertile lowlands between the rivers Mura and Drava, Međimurje justifies its nickname – the Garden of Croatia. The neat little villages and towns intertwine with an enchanting landscape. The region might be small, but it offers a bounty of attractions to impress any visitor. Whether you are into food and wine, relaxation and outdoor activities, or exploring local history, Međimurje is a garden full of possibilities. If you want to learn more about the ''Garden of Croatia'', be sure to read Total Croatia's Međimurje in a Page HERE.

Croatian wines and grapes are among the best in the world, and you can find more information about them in Total Croatia’s Guide to Croatian Wine HERE.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

September the 12th, 2020 - The Croatian tourism industry has taken blow after blow ever since the coronavirus pandemic broke through into the country back in spring this year. Croatian camps and hotels have had an extremely difficult time in drying to decide when to open, how to adapt to the epidemiological measures, or whether to bother opening their doors at all.

Despite the temendous amount of woes which plagued (and quite literally) tourism in Croatia, which is an economic branch of vital importance, accounting for around 20 percent of the country's GDP, the Croatian tourist season actually recorded far better results than were ever initially expected back during those dark lockdown-dominated days and weeks. With travel restricted and everything up in the air as the virus spread, many Croatian camps and hotels thought that there would be no season to speak of whatsoever, and the predictions from those in the industry were dire.

As summer arrived, flights began operating again and more and more Croatian camps and hotels began opening their doors. This was aided by Croatia's previously excellent epidemiological picture when compared to other countries in Europe, especially the terrible situations in both the United Kingdom and nearby Italy, and for the most part, the calculated risk of opening Croatia up to tourists paid off, resulting in a far better season than anticipated and a decent income level.

Now that the season is all but over and the cases of infection have begun to climb rather dramatically, just how well did Croatian camps and hotels actually perform when we look at the real figures?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 11th of September, 2020, this year, Croatian hotels accounted for about 44 percent of last year's turnover during the summer season, with revenues that are 5 to 15 percent lower than physical indicators, according to a survey by the Croatian Tourism Association, which was revealed recently at a press conference at the Ministry of Tourism by Veljko Ostojic.

This shows that there was price pressure, to which some hotels responded. Croatian camps had better demand, they realised 57 percent of last year's overnight stays.

Minister of Tourism Nikolina Brnjac revealed that in the season, Croatia realised 5.2 million tourist arrivals, which is 54 percent of the level of traffic from 2019, from 39.8 million overnight stays, or 62 percent of last year's traffic.

This is significantly better than expected from the rest of the Mediterranean. The director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Kristjan Stanicic, revealed that the CNTB's revenue this year will be around 200 million kuna, which is 150 million less than last year, but he pointed out that this will be enough for the campaigns that are being prepared for 2021.

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ZAGREB, Aug 31, 2020 - This year so far campsites have recorded 7.7 million nights or 51% of last year's results and although there are still tourists and many planned to stay open until October, most could close earlier due to tighter coronavirus restrictions in the main markets, according to the Croatian Camping Union (KUH).

KUH director Adriano Palman has told Hina's initial forecasts indicated that 2020 would see about 30% of last year's results. He recalls that most of them opened between May 15 and June 15 as borders were reopened.

At the moment, most of the tourists are from Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Palman says "it's impossible to forecast" what the situation in September will be and that it will primarily depend on the number of coronavirus infections in all relevant countries and Croatia.

Campsites in Istria, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, and Zadar countries have recorded 82% of this year's nights, he adds.

So far, campsites in Istria have recorded 3.6 million nights or 46% of last year's figure. Campsites in Lika-Senj County have recorded 62% of last year's nights, followed by Zadar County (60%) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (56%).

Palman says campsites in the southernmost Dubrovnik-Neretva County, although the furthest from the main markets have recorded 53% of last year's nights.

This year has seen a higher demand for mini camps, which have recorded 90% of last year's nights, although they account for only 4% of total campsite nights, he says, adding that four and five-star campsites, the most expensive ones, account for 52% of this year's nights.

This year so far, German, Slovenian and Austrian campers have generated 71% of all campsite nights. Polish and Czech tourists rank fourth and fifth, having generated 65% of last year's nights.

Palman says revenue is likely to be well below 50% of last year's figures and that campsites expect the adoption of new aid measures to avoid restructuring and retain jobs.

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October 23, 2019 - Camps in Croatia have been named the second-best in Europe, just behind the Netherlands, according to the German ADAC. 

T.portal writes that the aim is to become the leading camping destination in Europe, which was concluded at the 13th Croatian Camping Congress held in Sveti Martin na Muri, organized by the Croatian Camping Union (KUH), the association said.

The Congress was inaugurated by Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli and was attended by Sandra Herman, Deputy Mayor of Međimurje County and Rudi Grula, Head of the Tourist Board of Međimurje County.

“Investing in the quality of the tourist offer is correlated with the increase in the consumption of guests, and in the camping segment this year alone, we have 15 newly categorized campsites, namely high categories. The future of camping is certainly in an eco-friendly approach, which is also in line with our strategy, which emphasizes sustainability,” said Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli.

Croatian tourism camps account for as much as 23 percent of the capacity and 22 percent of overnight stays. They have a capacity of 248,522 guests, generating approximately three million arrivals and nearly 20 million overnight stays. Of these, almost two-thirds are small family campsites and the rest are medium and large campsites, holiday campsites. Today, around 39 percent have a standard 4+ stars, while in 2007, it was just nine percent. In addition, they now achieve 45 percent more overnights than in 2007.

“The results of this season show that Croatian camping is stabilizing and retaining one of the key places in Europe, although a slight decrease of 0.4 percent is recorded. Repeating these results will only be possible with additional investments, and the involvement of all stakeholders - from the local to the national community, employers, producers and employees in the sector - is important for attracting them. We have the potential to become a leading Mediterranean camping destination, and we believe that through a common approach to development, we will succeed,” said Veljko Ostojic, President of the KUH Executive Board.

The experts discussed the results of this year's camping season, the problem of tourist land, trends, opportunities to promote and attract tourists from the Polish and Slovenian markets, as well as the opening of new ones.

They also discussed the methodology and procedure of inspection and the possibilities of using cryptocurrencies in camps. In the fair, visitors could see the best practices and trends that await us in the future of camping - from the latest mobile homes and glamping tents to a variety of equipment and services.

Falkensteiner Premium Camping Resort Zadar and Lavanda received special recognition for their quality by Croatia's Best Campsites, and Val Vidal, Terme Jezerčica and Vita received OK mini-camps awards.

Slovenian Naj Kamp Adria 2019 awarded the quality large camps Valkanela, Čikat and Straško, and small camps Polidor, Mali and Slanica.

This year's laureates who have made a special contribution to the development of camping in Croatia are Sonja Brocca-Nastić, from the Arena Medulin Camp Group, Arena Stoja and Arena of India, Liviano Kocijančić from Istraturist and Petar Perković, a long-time KUH member.

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

The Croatian tourist season of 2019 hasn't been going all that well when compared the recent record years where little effort needed to be made and the tourists arrived in their droves.

2019 has seen it finally dawn on the powers that be that the VAT rate needs lowering and that a bit more effort needs to be made to attract tourists when in competition with recovering rivals such as Turkey, and even Greece which has just experienced a massive overhaul in its tourism policies - and for the better.

While numerous articles, videos and photos arise of otherwise very popular destinations on the Dalmatian coast which are normally thronged with tourists at this time of year almost entirely empty and quiet, those responsible for the state of Croatian tourism continue to twiddle their thumbs in awe of why Croatian companies who work in the tourism field are needing the quotas for foreign (non-EU) labour to be increased, and why cheaper Mediterranean destinations are pulling would-be tourists in Croatia to other countries which are cheaper.

Clutching at straws, perhaps, it seems some in Croatia have taken to charging for basic human rights to make up any potential deficit in their tourism revenues this summer. We had the recent case of a place in Trpanj, on the Peljesac Peninsula, charging people three times the usual price of a sun lounger if it's underneath a palm tree, then justifying it by stating that if people don't want to pay for that, then they can rent the sun lounger and simply lie underneath it for shade (yes, really). 

Now, we have yet another case, this time on the island of Krk in the Kvarner region. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of July, 2019, this announcement sparked numerous heated discussions on social media about high prices during the tourist season and charging for totally embarrassing things.

Namely, in Punat, on the island of Krk, it is evident that they are charging for sun loungers in the camp, but they also have something else to offer if you really want to splash the cash to ensure your basic right to not get sun stroke or skin cancer - a place in the shade.

Rather unsurprisingly, this weird photo caused a number of reactions on Facebook and quickly spread.

You'll beed to cough up 30 kuna if you want to rent a sun lounger, but a place in the shade for adults is a further 15 kuna, and for children, a further 10 kuna. Naturally, when this came to light, people were dumbfounded.

Officially, it has now been found out that in this camp on Krk, being charged more for a place in the shade has been going on in previous years, too.

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