April 19, 2022 - The 2022 Croatian Easter tourism figures are impressive, with most tourists visiting from Germany, Slovenia, Italy, and Austria and many domestic tourists, too. 

The director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Kristjan Staničić, said that we could be more than satisfied with the 2022 Croatian Easter tourism results, reports Dnevnik HRT.

"We recorded even more than 140,000 overnight stays on Saturday, which is the largest number so far in this part of the tourist year. Most guests were from Germany, Slovenia, Italy, and Austria and domestic guests. We must be satisfied because we have exceeded last year's Easter figures many times over," he said.

He reminded us that we had not had a pre-season for the last two years due to the pandemic, while this year is different.

"We have a trend that we have been following since the beginning of the year. We are above 90 percent of realizing tourist traffic, our goal this year. We are now at 96 percent. Today, there are over 120,000 tourists in Croatia, and I hope that we will have a good May and June and enter the main tourist season on a good basis," said the Croatian National Tourist Board director.

Many European countries have a strong campaign to promote holidays in their own country due to inflation and fuel prices.

"In the last two years, we have shown that we know how to resist all challenges. I believe that the tourism sector will know how to respond to price competition. It is important to stick to quality and provide something more for a certain price, and I believe that even then, results will follow," he said.

When asked if we could relax and believe in a good season, Staničić said there was no time for relaxation.

"This is the first passing time, and so far, we can be satisfied, but the main work is yet to come. We will intensify promotional activity, marketing campaigns, and tourism markets. Minister Brnjac and I are convinced that we have an excellent position in the Czech market, which also applies to Austria and Germany. We will take it a step further and present Croatian tourism in the USA. We have over 460 announced airlines, which is the level of 2019, but there is no relaxation; there is a lot of work ahead of us," he concluded.

For more on Vir tourism, check out our travel section.

January 12, 2022 - The official 2021 Croatian tourism figures are surprisingly fruitful, given the pandemic. 

Namely, 13.8 million arrivals and 84.1 million overnight stays were realized in Croatia last year, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

Compared to 2020, there are 77 percent more arrivals and 55 percent more overnight stays.

At the same time, foreign tourists realized 71.9 million overnight stays and domestic tourists had 12.3 million overnight stays. This is a continuation of the trend from 2020, in which domestic tourists crossed 15 percent of all arrivals for the second year in a row and had 13.3 percent of all overnight stays in 2020 and 14.5 percent a year later.

The pandemic deterred many from traveling abroad, so many tourists spent their vacation on the Adriatic.

According to the number of overnight stays, the results from recent years were achieved. The only better period was from 2017-2019. Last year reached 2017 with a 2.4 percent difference as 86.2 million overnight stays were realized in that year.

"On the other hand, 2021 set a record in the size that is the goal of every tourism policy - the average number of stays exceeded six nights per tourist for the first time in tourism history. Moreover, by the end of the third quarter, the average number of overnight stays was 6.7, close to a 7-day average stay. This speaks of the growing interest of tourists to stay in Croatia, which, thanks to the efforts of tourism workers, local communities, and the hospitality and tourism sector has more to offer than the sun and sea," says private consultant Ivica Žuro.

Most tourist overnight stays were recorded in Istria (23.5 million), Split-Dalmatia (15.5 million), and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (15.3 million).

They are followed by Zadar County (12.7 million overnight stays), Šibenik-Knin County (5.9 million), and Dubrovnik-Neretva County (5.4 million). The destinations that attracted the most visitors were Zagreb (638,000 arrivals), Rovinj (549,000), Dubrovnik (543,000), Split (529,000) and Poreč (431,000 arrivals).

Looking at the markets in 2021, most arrivals were made by Germans (2.9 million, 84 percent growth compared to 2020), domestic tourists (2.3 million or 41 percent more than in 2020), Slovenes (1.2 million, 18% growth compared to 2020), Austrians (1.1 million, 180 percent growth compared to 2020), Poles (1 million, 50 percent growth compared to 2020) and Czechs (775.00 or 50 percent more than in 2020).

Compared to 2020, there were 78% more Italians, 100% more Hungarians, 168% more French, and 324% more Dutch.

Central and Eastern Europe is still our primary market, especially compared to the record  2019. Poles achieved 8% more overnight stays; Germans are on the same number, Czechs achieved 97% of pre-pandemic overnight stays, while Slovenians and Austrians achieved about 82% of overnight stays from 2019.

Most overnight stays by type of accommodation were recorded in households (32.1 million), camps (17.4 million), and hotels (15.7 million). In addition, 3.1 million overnight stays were realized in the nautical charter segment. Compared to 2020, the highest traffic growth was achieved in hotels (+124 percent), camps (+92 percent), nautical (+87 percent), and household facilities (+45 percent).

According to the Croatian National Tourist Board, in the first nine months of 2021, revenues from foreign tourists amounted to 8 billion and 268 million euros, representing a growth of 90% of revenues from the same period in 2020 (the first corona-pandemic year). Compared to the first nine months of 2019, 88% of revenues were generated.

During the summer months and the third quarter of 2021, revenues from foreign tourists amounted to 6 billion and 775 million euros, an increase of 100% of revenues generated during the same period in 2020.

For more, check out our dedicated travel section.