January 10, 2021 – Despite pandemic and earthquakes, the number of well-to-do guests in Croatia in 2020 grew. They spent 98 euros a day, 32 more euros than six years ago, and they were looking for the highest quality and the most expensive tourist offer.

As Radmila Kovačević / Večernji list writes, a thin but much better tourist season than it seemed in the spring brought Croatia 7.7 million guests and about 54 million overnight stays in eleven months. Every other overnight stay from the record 2019 was realized.

The earthquakes did not have a particular impact on the number of guests. The last month of the year, regardless of the disaster, could not bring any fundamental change. Excluding Zagreb Advent and New Year's guests on the Adriatic, the number of tourists in December varied between a modest seven and ten thousand a day, which was about a third of the tourist traffic last year in that month.

Croatia is a discovery in terms of offer and quality

About 3,000 foreign tourists are sharing the current earthquake drama with the local population. The atypical year has intensified some trends, and one of them is undoubtedly digital nomads. Among those 3,000 foreigners are hundreds of guests who do their regular jobs from Croatia.

An increase in demand for holidays in separate villas and holiday homes was expected, given the pandemic. Still, many hosts were surprised by the jump in demand for the highest quality and the most expensive of what Croatian tourism offers.

Hosts first noticed this in Istria, wherein some weeks this summer, it was practically impossible to find a free bed in luxury holiday homes or small family hotels.

Tourists in Rovinj / Copyright Romulić and Stojčić

It was similar in restaurants – well-to-do guests did not skimp on olive oil, wine, prosciutto, and similar treats as a "souvenir "from a Croatia vacation. Many of these guests said that they regularly go to some of the more famous Mediterranean resorts and that Croatia, in this case, Istria, is a discovery for them, both in terms of offer and quality.

Continental destinations can be profitable

The transformation of the domestic tourist offer from mass, ready-made to more refined, boutique offer is not since yesterday. This is evidenced by the growing revenues from tourism, i.e., the average consumption of our guests.

For comparison, in 2014, tourists spent an average of 66.3 euros a day on vacation in Croatia. Three years later, in the 2017 season, average tourist spending jumped to 79 euros per person per night. And according to the recently published comprehensive survey Attitudes and Consumption of Tourists, published on the new interactive website of the Institute of Tourism, guests in Croatia spent as much as 98 euros a day from May 2019 to March 2020.

Tourists in Rovinj / Copyright Romulić and Stojčić

For the first time, the research was conducted outside the summer months and in the whole of Croatia, not only on the coast. It also revealed how profitable tourism in the interior could be than at sea. Namely, it turned out that in 2019 guests spent an average of 97 euros a day on holiday in coastal destinations, and in continental destinations, such as Slavonia or Zagorje, 115 euros per person.

BiH Guests, who spent 67 euros per person per day, had the smallest budget for holidays in Croatia. The most generous guests were the Japanese, with daily consumption of as much as 206 euros. The generous guests include tourists from the USA with 174 euros per person, the Republic of Korea (157 euros), China (150 euros), and Asian countries in general, whose average consumption is 155 euros. Among Europeans, the British stand out with daily consumption of 143 euros.

First guests already for the Easter holidays?

Altogether, a good start for 2021, in which the tourist sector, which these days are busy helping the victims in Banovina, could expect the first wave of guests as early as in the Easter holidays.

"The number of 54 million overnight stays is proof that our tourism has quickly and efficiently adapted to the new circumstances. Croatia was recognized as a safe destination, and we must work on that in 2021, and then again, we can expect good results. Glad the fact that tourist spending is growing. Our goal is the same or higher revenues than in 2019. But not through an increase in the number of tourists in the summer, but by a more even distribution throughout the year and throughout Croatia," commented the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

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April 15, 2020 — The coronavirus pandemic effectively nixed any hope of "normal" summer tourism filled with European vacationers and jet setters from all corners of the world. The Croatian government, like many others in Europe, will try to salvage "the season" by drawing a key demographic: locals.

More and more countries are urging their citizens to spend their holidays within their own borders this year, announcing financial measures that would encourage summer vacations somewhere near home.

The Croatian tourism sector will likely rely on local guests this year. The third set of financial measures discussed by the government could follow Greece and Germany's lead by incentivizing local tourism over foreigners by helping employers cover vacation costs, according to Jutarnji List.

The measures would also introduce a financial model encouraging Croats to spend their holidays in the country this year, most likely through the long-announced "Cro Card" program, which will be adapted to the new circumstances.

"We do not know exactly what the model will be, there are all kinds of suggestions," a source told Jutarnji. "Among them a model according to which the state would add a kuna from the budget to every kuna [of paid vacation] by the employer. But things have yet to be defined, so it is too early to talk about the details."

Employers typically mark paid vacations as a non-taxable expense. But in a pandemic, such a model would be unworkable. Most employers lack the resources to cover vacation costs.

Greece's Chamber of Commerce is promoting a discount holiday destination for as many as two million Greeks who, with the help of special coupons, would have a five-day holiday of their choice between July until the end of December, with many expenses heavily subsidized. The same appears true for Germany, one of Croatia's main source of tourists.

The President of Germany's General Practitioners Association, Klaus Reinhardt, told members to cancel plans for holidays abroad they made. Ditto Finland, which is seeing increased talk of canceled vacations because Finnish economists believe it will help restart economic activity.

A well-informed source told Jutarnji proposed financial measures should, among other things, introduce a financial model encouraging Croats to spend their holidays in Croatia. The government may have to help employers to cover vacation costs first.

The campaign aimed at domestic guests will also be joined by the Croatian National Tourist Board, which is still pushing to keep Croatia's high profile in foreign markets mainly through social networks, while activities towards the domestic market will be directed when conditions are right.

It is still unknown how these campaigns will look and how much money will be invested in them. It is likely that, apart from locals, they will also be targeted at guests from the region, more specifically the countries "easily accessible by car."

According to data from the CNTB, 1.69 million Croats took on a multi-day vacation in 2018. Of them, 55 percent, or 929 thousand, traveled within Croatia. Inside Croatia, they generated 16.2 million overnight stays.