September the 11th, 2022 - There were less Croatian tourists staying in commercial accommodation up and down the country in July 2022 than there were back during the same month last year.

As Morski writes, in July 2022, commercial accommodation facilities across the nation received 4.3 million tourists, equal to 23 percent more than last year. With an impressive 25.2 million overnight stays, that number for July was also up by 20.6 percent, according to the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), which shows that 93 percent of tourists in that accommodation were foreigners, and that there were 9 percent less Croatian tourists than there were last year.

A total of 335.2 thousand Croatian tourists came to stay and were registered in commercial accommodation during the month of July, achieving 1.6 million overnight stays, which is 9 percent less than back in July 2021.

In almost all of the Croatian Adriatic counties, Croatian tourists and their number of realised overnight stays were less than they were last year, between 7 and 11 percent less to be more precise.

Foreign tourists accounted for 93 and 95 percent of the total arrivals and overnight stays in this accommodation segment for the month of July 2022, meaning that there were 26.6 percent more of them than last July (four million), and they achieved 23.2 percent more overnight stays (24 million) compared to the record July of 2019. These figures still represent a lag of 0.7 percent when it comes to arrivals and one of 1.6 percent when it comes to overnight stays.

Overall, July 2022 was a mere percent behind the same month back during the pre-pandemic July of 2019 in terms of occupancy of commercial accommodation, but 0.4 percent more tourists came.

Among foreign visitors, the most numerous in July were the faithful Germans, and in commercial accommodation they accounted for 21.2 percent of the total number of foreign overnight stays and an increase of 19.2 percent compared to the number of overnight stays realised by Germans back in July 2021. Almost 70 percent of German tourists chose only two counties for their stay - Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar, which also accounted for about 50 percent of all commercial tourist arrivals and overnight stays in July.

In terms of overnight stays realised in July, Slovenians come second, followed by the Czechs, Poles and Austrians.

When it comes to the type of accommodation, among all types of commercial offers, tourists mostly chose rooms, apartments and holiday homes (private accommodation), which accounted for more than half of July's overnight stays, or 14.2 million of them, which is 19.6 percent more than in July 2021, but less than in July 2019, by 2.5 percent.

Campsites came in second place with almost 6 million overnight stays or 19.4 percent more than in July 2021 and 5 percent more than in July 2019, while hotels with 3.5 million overnight stays were up 26 percent compared to last July, and in the minus of just 3 percent when compared to July 2019.

The CBS also stated that back in July 2022, 410,000 rooms, apartments and places for camping were offered to tourists in commercial accommodation, with 1.1 million permanent beds, which is 4.6 percent more than last year, and by about 2.4 percent less than in 2019.

In the first seven months of 2022, a total of 9.8 million tourists stayed in commercial accommodation facilities, or 67 percent more than last year, and 47 million overnight stays realised in total represent an encouraging increase of 54 percent, as reported by HRT.

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

July the 5th, 2022 - Just how much cash are the average Croatian tourists ready to part with for a week on the coast? Some choose to head abroad, but most choose to remain in this country.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, typically speaking, most Croatian tourists continue to choose this country's coastline as their first holiday choice, and most of the reservations come from the continental part of Croatia, with only a very small percentage choosing to head abroad to countries such as Greece, Turkey and Tunisia.

This was shown by the statistics of the Arriva travel travel agency. On average, Croatian tourists, let's say a family of four, spends about 9,400 kuna on accommodation, they stay a maximum of seven nights, they usually pay by card in installments and mostly travel by car, and 20 percent go by organised bus transport. Arriva travel notes that one of the trends that emerged as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic is that when booking a holiday, clients want to complete the entire process from inquiry to payment electronically, which wasn't the case before the novel coronavirus took over the world back in 2020.

"Before the coronavirus pandemic, Croatian tourists typically insisted on personal contact with us, while today communication by phone or e-mail is sufficient for them. Likewise, when arranging vacations in other parts of Croatia, the new trend is that clients more often arrange travel cancellation policies, which wasn't the case before the pandemic either,'' pointed out Tamara Cerneka, the director of Arriva travel, noting that tourists are no longer looking for more isolated, out-of-the-way places like they had been during the previous two years.

The difference compared to 2020 and 2021 can also be found in the demand for air tickets to other European destinations. The increase in purchased tickets for European metropolises in comparison to back in 2019 is as much as 80 percent higher, which Arriva travel justifies with the increased desire of travellers to compensate for everything that they couldn't go and everywhere they couldn't visit over the previous two years. Cruise ships that sail the Mediterranean are also returning, but most of them still require valid Covid certificates.

As for the places where Croatian tourists like to travel elsewhere in Croatia, the most sought-after destinations for travellers from Eastern Croatia are the Crikvenica Riviera due to its geographical proximity and the Makarska Riviera due to its stunning natural beauty.

"In terms of numbers and income, this summer season will certainly be at 80 percent of the record year of 2019. It's difficult to say whether it will be reached or exceeded because the largest number of customers book at the last minute, i.e. a few days before their departure. Those who are hoping for ultra last minute discounts will be disappointed, because there are none to speak of, and apparently there won't be any coming up this year either. All capacities on the Adriatic coast are very well filled, in the very height of the summer season, and even during the post-season. Namely, the pre- and post-season(s) are well filled by school groups who continue to choose the Croatian Adriatic coastline as their destination of choice," pointed out Tamara Cerneka.

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

November the 30th, 2021 - Croatian tourists have been planning winter trips despite the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, but there could still be issues waiting to throw proverbial spanners in the works, including the recently discovered new variant, Omicron.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, although Croatian tourists had made fewer trips by September this year than they did last year, their plans for winter travel, including abroad, have apparently increased. At least that's what Croatian tourists thought in September, before the onset of the fourth wave of the pandemic. This was revealed via the MasterIndex survey on the usage habits of financial services in Croatia, conducted by the Improve market research agency, on a sample of 1,046 users of banking services in Croatia aged 18 to 55.

Back in September, 43 percent of respondents planned to travel abroad this winter, while in September 2020, 21 percent planned to travel abroad. 17 percent of them planned to go skiing, 51 percent had an Advent trip planned, while as many as 24 percent of respondents intended to head off abroad celebrate the New Year. Those who said they weren't planning a trip abroad cited financial worries or fears of cancellation as their main issues. The most attractive locations for travelling within Croatia were Zagreb and its surroundings.

When it comes to realised trips, in 2021 2.7 trips per passenger were realised by Croatian tourists, and a year earlier, 3.4 trips were for leisure, while the number of business trips until September remained the same as last year (1.6 trips per respondent). For comparison, back in pre-pandemic 2019, respondents travelled an average of 4.2 times for leisure and 2.6 times a year on business. On average, a little less than 8,000 kuna was spent on one trip for leisure, and as many as 92 percent of respondents find out information about the destination of their trips via the Internet.

Most Croatian tourists pay for their trips with debit cards and cash, and as for the amount they spend on travel, it is higher than it was in the year before.

Of those Croatian tourists who planned to travel abroad at the time of the survey back in September, half planned to travel to a European destination during Advent, and on average they planned to stay on such trips for 3 to 4 days. A quarter of the respondents planned to celebrate the New Year in one of the larger European cities, and they thought that such a trip would last on average 5 days. As for skiing, such a trip was planned by 17 percent of respondents.

Among the respondents who planned a trip, most are those with a higher level of education and who have a higher income, they were also mainly respondents from Istria. Thus, 28 percent of Istrians were sure that they'd travel somewhere abroad this winter, compared to only 3 percent of respondents from Northern Croatia. At the same time, 68 percent of Slavonians planned an Advent trip to a European destination, as opposed to 47 percent of those from Istria and Zagreb. Comparing the data with last year, it could be seen that the number of those planning an Advent trip abroad or to go skiing has increased significantly, but it would be interesting to see what these same respondents plan today, in the midst of the fourth wave of the pandemic and with the emergence of a new strain of the novel coronavirus.

While before the pandemic, each respondent travelled to one of the European destinations on average once a year, now that average has dropped to 0.3 trips. The number of trips within Croatia also decreased slightly, in contrast to 2.6 trips made back in 2019, in 2021, respondents travelled an average of 2.1 times a year.

As for spending on leisure travel, although people are travelling less, respondents are spending more. Thus, on average, Croatian tourists spent a little less than 8,000 kuna on one trip, and last year they spent an average of a little more than 6,100 kuna. Back in pre-pandemic 2019, the average travel spending was 5,150 kuna in total. Respondents from Zagreb and Northern Croatia also spend much more on this type of travel than respondents from the likes of Lika and Istria.

For more, check out our dedicated travel section.

May the 21st, 2021 - With the warm summer months rapidly approaching and with the vaccination rollout across Europe picking up its pace, plans are being hatched for a much needed holiday by the vast majority of Europeans. We might hear the most about the mass bookings the Brits and Germans are making, but what are the plans of Croatian travellers this summer? With the EU Digital Green Certificate introduction looming, arrangements are being made.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the tourist season is creeping up at somewhat of an alarming speed, and along with it is the EU Digital Green Certificate introduction and an easier regime for cross-border travel agreed upon by the European Union recently. As Croats, much like most other Europeans, scramble for the chance of a break abroad, trips to the likes of Portugal and Turkey are on the cards.

Along with Turkey and Portugal, Croatian travellers are also looking a bit further afield and showing interest in Morocco, according to a report from Dnevnik.hr.

The fact that Croats are busy looking for getaways as restrictions ease once again was confirmed by the president of the association of Croatian travel agencies, Tomislav Fain, who claimed that the number of bookings of foreign trips has increased, but it's still not much to write home about just yet.

“Now, if we were to compare with last year it would probably be 100 percent better than the way things were back then, but of course last year when we were practically in lockdown at this time is of course not comparable. We always have to go back to pre-pandemic 2019 or some other earlier year, when we still lived normally and travelled normally,'' Fain explained.

Normal travel within the European Union (EU) should also be made possible by the aforementioned EU Gigital Green Certificate introduction which is being negotiated at the European Union level.

"It's a certificate that will include those people who have recovered from the disease, been vaccinated and those who have tested negative, they will all be allowed to enjoy freedom of movement," explained Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

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April the 21st, 2021 - Terme Tuhelj in continental Croatia has always been extremely popular with domestic tourists, and with the pandemic still continuing to reign strong, it is precisely domestic tourists which kept the facility's head above water over the past, dire year.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, just like everything related to tourism, doing business in 2020 was extremely challenging for Terme Tuhelj, which in the last few years has invested a lot in raising its overall quality and creating added value for the entire destination of Hrvatsko Zagorje.

Despite the less than favourable circumstances, they managed to generate slightly more than 60 percent of their revenue when compared to the record year of 2019, which was revealed by Terme Tuhelj's director.

What are Terme Tuhelj's plans for this year?

Due to the very uncertain situation, planning for 2021 remains a great challenge for Terme Tuhelj. But since the hotels, swimming pools and other services we offer are mostly in operation all the time, we've already gained some experience of how the market reacts in this type of situation.

Due to all of the above and based on many years of experience, historic data and past trends on the one hand and the events of last year's crisis year and good business in the first months of this year on the other, we've estimated and plan approximately 15 percent lower income realisation when compared to revenues in 2019.

Have you maintained financial stability?

With the great help of our parent company last year, due to the positive results in the first three months of 2021 and the use of support and subsidies by the state, we managed to preserve our financial stability and if there's no total lockdown or some drastic measures, the company isn't endangered.

What was the composition of the guests who came to Terme Tuhelj last year, and can the spas survive solely on the custom of Croatian guests?

The structure of guests in 2020 didn't reflect the usual situation in a normal business year. Namely, after the reopening after the spring 2020 lockdown, the epidemiological situation in our main emitting markets changed greatly during the year. Despite reservations and inquiries from certain markets, guests were forced to cancel or shorten their trips due to the measures of their own countries.

In the autumn, in the end, everything resulted in a total lockdown and the arrival of foreign guests was prevented. Therefore, we recorded a decline in the number of overnight stays from foreign markets by as much as 66 percent, while the decline seen from the Croatian market wasn't so great thanks to individual guests who partly replaced a holiday abroad by visiting spas precisely because of the closed borders.

At the end of the year, Croatian overnight stays accounted for slightly less than 66 percent of the total structure of all overnight stays realised, while in the year before the coronavirus pandemic, they amounted to only 47 percent.

What kind of results did the hotel have?

Hotel Well realised slightly less than 72,000 overnight stays, which is a decrease of 45 percent when compared to the record year of 2019. When we look at business in 2020 from the perspective of sales channels, we're able to see that the number of overnight stays of MICE activities decreased significantly.

In this segment, the number of overnight stays decreased by as much as 82 percent when compared to 2019, which is completely understandable since the measures that didn't allow the gathering of a larger number of people in one place were in force all that time. There was also a big drop in organised foreign groups staying here, and in 2020 we had a 89 percent drop in overnight stays in that regard. Namely, only 2380 overnight stays were realised, while in 2019 there were 22,353 overnight stays achieved.

Overall, the drop in overnight stays from organised groups is high, standing at 83 percent. On the positive side, the decline for individual guests is still much smaller and amounted to 22 percent, which shows that we managed to mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus crisis with a flexible approach and quick reactions.

In which markets are you advertising now?

Due to the current difficult epidemiological situation in our main emitting markets, we haven't yet launched advertising campaigns in foreign markets, except for a minimal presence and communication on social media. The majority of our promotion is still done here at home on the domestic market, but we believe that this will soon change and that we will slowly start with the promotion on the neighbouring Slovenian market, and before the season, in other markets of the European Union as well.

What insights from the pandemic year will you apply in 2021?

From this situation, we've learned that it's necessary to closely monitor the development of the market situation, the changing demands and the requirements of guests, as well as changes in various measures and recommendations by all of the relevant institutions and the need to accept these changes as the only fact over which we have no influence.

However, we have full influence on our actions and therefore we should focus all our energy on adapting to the situation instead of commenting on it. We're going to continue to adapt all of our sales and promotional activities to the situation and direct them to such a way of working and doing business in order to achieve the best results. This has been a well-established practice in the last crisis-dominated year and only with maximum flexibility on the side of promotional and sales activities can we maximise the results in this uncertain year of 2021 as well.

You even had crowds this winter that were written about, do you have any information if there were any infected people at your pools?

Crowds during the winter holidays are a subjective term talked about by some visitors under the influence of fear of infection or dissatisfaction with certain measures, but I'd like to note that in Terme Tuhelj we strictly adhere to all of the anti-epidemic measures and recommendations of the CNIPH and accordingly always respect the fact that there are only a certain number of visitors permitted in individual facilities, including in the swimming pools and saunas.

Due to compliance with these measures and a larger number of guests staying at the hotel, at certain times we're forced to close the entrances to the pools, although this causes dissatisfaction among our daily visitors. However, the health of our guests and our employees will always come first and we aren't going to deviate from that. Owing to this, we can state that we haven't had any cases of infection recorded among any of our employees or guests.

Is it a good time to invest?

As I mentioned, in the first place business needs to be stabilised first and we need to return revenues to pre-crisis levels. It's clear to us that the global pandemic has not only caused problems in our company, but has affected the world's economy, and it was the tourism sector that felt the biggest drop in traffic.

Despite that, we aren't going to give up on our development plans, which we proved last year when we successfully completed the investment in Glamping Village Terme Tuhelj in the middle of the public health crisis, but we will certainly move the deadlines for our strategic investments in the future.

For more, make sure to follow our business section.

October 1, 2020 - Data from Booking.com revealed that Croatian travelers discovered domestic destinations this summer as the coronavirus pandemic hindered usual travel plans. 

HRTurizam reports that travel plans changed drastically in 2020, which allowed travelers to explore destinations closer to home, discovering or rediscovering hidden destinations that are practically on their doorstep.

Studying the realized trips this summer, Booking.com revealed that the average distance traveled by passengers from Croatia traveling June - August decreased by 56% compared to the same period last year, which is slightly less than the global average of 63%.

Looking at the data obtained in the summer of 2019, passengers from Croatia traveled an average of 726 kilometers per booking. This summer, that distance was reduced to only 322 kilometers per reservation, which is slightly more than the distance Zagreb-Sibenik.

As much as 68% of the distance traveled by passengers from Croatia between June 1 and August 31, 2020, was within Croatia, compared to only 17% in the same period in 2019.

Many of them took the opportunity and traveled to visit family and friends they could not meet during travel restrictions and physical distance measures. Although Croatia is at the top of the list of most popular destinations booked by travelers from Croatia this summer, followed by Germany, Italy, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, and Austria, the data shows that some travelers from Croatia traveled abroad to enjoy their travels but still stayed within the continent. 

Many travelers from Croatia have rediscovered domestic destinations led by islands for which there has been increased interest this season. This summer, domestic destinations that were in great demand are Starigrad-Paklenica and the island towns of Stari Grad, Hvar, Malinska, and Korcula.

Although some rural destinations are becoming increasingly popular, long-term proven urban favorites are still at the top of most desirable destinations. This summer, those destinations for travelers from Croatia are Zagreb, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik.

As far as accommodation choice is concerned, this year, travelers from Croatia most often chose to stay in camps, then in villas and holiday homes.

The increase in the reservation of accommodation in camps shows a change in travel trends, points out Booking.com, and adds that if we compare the data from the end of 2019 before it was known that a global pandemic would hamper our travel plans in 2020, only 13% passengers from Croatia intended to stay in camps while as many as 64% planned to spend their holidays in hotels.

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What do Croatian and international travellers think of their hosts when staying in private accommodation? How do they rate them, how much interaction is too much and are privacy and inside information the key?

As Lea Balenovic/Novac writes on the 9th of April, 2019, almost two thirds of Croats believe that the host is a key factor when staying in an accommodation facility, and those who are the best rated in the Republic of Croatia, both from domestic and foreign guests, can be found in in Rakovica, Osijek, Bibinje, Korenica, Kaštela, Makarska, Brela, Senj, Trogir and Podstrana.

They are the results of research conducted by the world's leading rental company, Booking.com, on a sample of 21,500 travellers worldwide. As the survey showed, 63 percent of international travellers and 62 percent of Croatian travellers think that their stay was better because of their engagement of the host who did everything they could to make it a better stay for them.

Most travellers want to feel "at home," as they have indicated in such surveys. For 62 percent of international travellers, the main advantage of non-hotel accommodation is the ability to take advantage of the knowledge and information available from the host and decide to stay in a property owned by someone who actually comes from the region in which the property is located. The same goes for 48 percent of Croatian travellers.

Nearly half of the international travellers who partook in the survey, or more specifically 45 percent of them, and 59 percent of Croatian travellers consider the local knowledge and information at their disposal from their host important for their overall budget because they hope to be given insider advice that will help them save some cash and avoid potential tourist traps.

However, while it seems that all travellers who took part in this survey generally consider the same things to be significant, each traveller is looking for a different type of engagement from their host. Therefore, some travellers are satisfied with a simple warm welcome, while others have slightly higher expectations from their hosts.

For example, 52 percent of international passengers and 40 percent of Croatian travellers believe that their host should only be seen once during their stay in order to make them feel welcome, and more than a third of international travellers and almost the same number of Croatian travellers expect their hosts to contact them only during their arrival, registration, and then again when they eventually check out and leave the premises.

What is often even more challenging to hosts is the fact that many travellers also expect them to have some sort of sixth sense and know just how much of a personal touch is needed for each traveller. 69 percent believe that hosts should intuitively know the right amount of time they should be spending with their guests, and that is also what 73 percent of Croatian travellers think. For four out of five international travellers and the same number of travellers from Croatia that means respecting their need for personal space, which means that the feeling of privacy is key.

The hosts also agree. Namely, nearly 80 percent of Croatian hosts think that the most important thing for guests is to be able to properly ensure their privacy.

"Our research reveals that it's very important for the owners and managers of accommodation facilities to find a balance which ensures the best experience, regardless of whether guests are staying in a vacation home, an apartment, in accommodation with their hosts or any other type of facility," explained Olivier Grémillon, the vice president of Booking.com, adding the fact thatt "what is crystal clear is that there is nothing like the ability of ordinary people to turn something into an unforgettable experience."

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and travel pages for much more.

Click here for the original article by Lea Balenovic for Novac/Jutarnji