May the 5th, 2023 - Flydubai Croatia flights are firmly on the cards as the Croatian National Tourist Board partakes in a large tourism event and seeks better positioning on the Middle Eastern markets.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB/HTZ) partakes in the very first edition of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) since the global coronavirus pandemic, which is one of the leading international tourism events in the Middle East.

"The presence and performance at the ATM fair is of strategic importance in the positioning and promotion of Croatia in distant markets, especially if we know that this fair is being held live and in full format for the first time after the pandemic-induced pause. Considering Croatia's potential, our goal is the country's better positioning on the markets of the MENA region, that is, the Middle East and North Africa, and indirectly also India.

Croatia is recognised in these countries as a destination of extremely preserved and rich natural heritage, and it is precisely this segment of the tourist offer on these particular markets that achieves the greatest demand and interest. As such, this year's edition of the fair is dedicated to sustainable development and Net Zero technology," said HTZ director Kristjan Stanicic, who also emphasised how airlines are key in achieving positive results and trends in regard to distant markets.

That is why it is more than good news that this year, Flydubai-Croatia flights will connect Dubai with both Dubrovnik and Zagreb, which is also connected to Doha via a Qatar Airways flight.

At the fair, the CNTB delegation discussed the possibilities of further cooperation with representatives of VFS Tourism Services, an entity that already cooperates with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia when it comes to issuing visas, and which, as part of its services, offers the implementation of targeted marketing and PR activities. It also discussed further cooperation with the representatives of the Aviareps agency, which already successfully cooperates with the Croatian National Tourist Board through PR support and media rental support on various European markets.

Meetings were also held with representatives of other agencies and platforms, such as Wego MENA and Travelzoo.

For more, make sure to check out our news section.

May 3, 2023 - For the long weekend connected with Labor Day, from April 28 to May 1, there were 256,000 registered tourists and more than 890,000 overnight stays in Croatia, which is an increase of over 40 percent compared to the same period last year, reported Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) on Tuesday.

As 24Sata writes, data on tourist arrivals and overnight stays around Labor Day show that 49 percent more tourists came to Croatia this year than at the same time last year, while there were 42 percent more overnight stays, according to HTZ based on data from the eVisitor system.

Tourists spent the most nights in Istria, Kvarner, and the Split-Dalmatia County, more precisely in Dubrovnik, Poreč, Rovinj, Umag, Zagreb, and Split.

Commenting on these data, HTZ director Kristjan Staničić pointed out that this year's tourism results are the best announcement of the main summer season and that Croatia is an increasingly attractive year-round destination.

"After Croatia's entry into Schengen, this year it is also a more accessible destination for short and frequent weekend trips. Around Labor Day, the most numerous tourists were Slovenians, Poles, Austrians, Germans, and Italians, and there were also quite a few Dutch and British", says Staničić.

HTZ is also satisfied with the results in the first four months of this year, according to which there were 2 million tourists and 5.9 million overnight stays, which is 28 and 17 percent more than in the same months last year, as well as 4 percent more overnight stays. than 2019

In addition to domestic tourists, by the end of April this year, most foreign tourists arrived from Slovenia, Germany, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, the UK, and the USA, and most of them in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Rovinj, Split, Poreč and Opatija.

The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Nikolina Brnjac, is satisfied that the positive trends since the beginning of the year have continued over the long weekend, which she considers an additional confirmation that Croatia is desirable outside of the summer months.

"We are particularly pleased that tourists increasingly recognize the attractiveness and the offer of continental counties, which almost all achieve better results than in 2019. This all favors the fulfillment of strategic goals - the development of year-round and more regionally balanced tourism," said the minister, who is optimistic for the upcoming main part of the tourist year.

HTZ also presents data for April this year, in which there were 1.1 million tourists and 3.3 million overnight stays in Croatia, which are increases of 26 and 16 percent compared to last April.

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

March 2, 2023 - Tourist traffic in the first two months of this year exceeded the same months of 2019 by 5 percent with almost 514,000 tourist arrivals, and by 16 percent with 1.46 million overnight stays, according to data from the eVisitor system, which Hina was provided by the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ). Moreover, the number of tourist arrivals and overnight stays in the first two months of this year was higher than in the same months last year, by 24 percent in arrivals and 17 percent in overnight stays.

As Index writes, more than half of the total tourist traffic was realized on the coast, that is, 283.7 thousand tourists stayed in the counties by the Adriatic, and they accounted for a little more than 961.3 thousand overnight stays, of which the most were in three regions - Istria, Kvarner and Split-Dalmatia County.

Most overnight stays in Zagreb

Zagreb is first among destinations, with almost 255 thousand overnight stays in the first two months, while Rovinj is second with nearly 86 thousand. Split is third with 85.1 thousand. They are followed by Opatija, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Porec, and Zadar. According to the types of accommodation, the most overnight stays in the first two months were in hotels, 780.6 thousand, which, according to HTZ, is 23 percent more than last year, and 9 percent more than in 2019.

Among the markets from which tourists came in terms of overnight stays in the first two months, Croatia is in the first place, i.e., domestic tourists, with 557.3 thousand overnight stays or 6 percent more than in 2022, and as much as 19 percent more than at the same time in 2019. These are also rare, if not the only, months of the year when there are more domestic overnight stays than foreign ones.

Slovenia is in second place, as tourists from that market spent 132.4 thousand overnight stays in Croatia, or 14 percent more than last year and 18 percent more than in 2019, followed by tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina with slightly more than 105 thousand overnight stays, which is 18 percent more than in 2022 and about 9 percent less than in 2019.

From the market of Austria with 85.3 thousand overnight stays of their tourists, an increase of 27 percent was recorded compared to the first two months of 2022 and 29 percent compared to the same in 2019, while slightly more than 80 thousand overnight stays of tourists from Germany is 7 percent more than in 2022. . and even 44 percent more than in 2019.

Head of HTZ: We have a successful tourist year ahead

"The results of tourist traffic this year, as well as the trends in the tourist market, indicate that we will have a successful tourist year, during which we can further strengthen Croatia's position as one of the leading destinations in the Mediterranean," HTZ director Kristjan Stanicic commented for Hina.

He emphasized that optimistic announcements and feedback from key partners also come from numerous tourist fairs where HTZ represents Croatian tourism in this period, from New York, Madrid, Milan, through Munich, and Budapest. He also expects positive effects from performances at upcoming fairs, especially in March at ITB in Berlin and Ferien-Messe in Vienna, of which Croatia is a partner.

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

January the 26th, 2023 - Meet E-tourism, a brand new set of digital public services for the ever-important field of Croatian tourism has been launched in time for this summer season.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, E-tourism is a brand new set of digital public services for the field of Croatian tourism which has been made available from today via the e-Citizens (e-Gradjani) system. The new E-tourism service has otherwise been created as part of the three-year project involving Croatian digital tourism or e-tourism, the final activities of which were presented on Wednesday this week by the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sport (MINTS).

Presenting the brand new E-tourism project and its aims for the tourism sector at the press conference, its leader and director of the Directorate for Strategic Planning, Digitalisation and EU Funds, Natalija Havidic, explained that the project has actually been being implemented since back at the beginning of 2018, and will finally be completed at the beginning of February this year.

The goal of the project and all the resulting electronic services is to improve the efficiency of public services and communication between people and tourist entities within public administration.

Three new e-services for tourism were created as part of that project - TuStart, TuRiznica and TuRegistar, which are under the jurisdiction of MINTS. Two more were previously upgraded in the process - eVisitor as a system for the registration and de-registration of tourists and the portal Croatia.hr, which presents the entire Croatian tourist offer and various types of information, both of which are under the jurisdiction of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ/CNTB).

The TuStart service, according to Havidic, is intended for the online start-up and registration or change of tourist activities, TuRegistar is a tourist central register that will include all enterprises and individuals engaged in Croatian tourism, including the categorisation of facilities and more, and TuRiznica is a system in which one can see and submit requests for the allocation of all grants in tourism transparently online.

"The importance of this E-tourism project lies in the fact that now the paper-based issuing of various permits, solutions and so on can all be done online, and that all these solutions are digitally mapped. The accuracy of the data entered, for example, in the TuRegistar system should be verified by MINTS and the competent county, and then it will all be visible in that system," concluded Havidic.

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

September the 8th, 2022 - The new CNTB campaign is focused primarily on boosting continental Croatian tourism, with so many sights and experiences to be enjoyed far away from the coastline.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) and the Ministry of Tourism and Sport have launched the second part of this year's CNTB campaign which focuses on the rural parts of the country with the aim of generating stronger tourist traffic during the post-season. This new CNTB campaign is primarily promoting Lika and Senj, Posavina and Pozega, Podunavlje and Konavle in the extreme south of the country, the CNTB reported.

"Th new CNTB  campaign puts Croatian rural destinations in the foreground, as well as Croatian guests, with whom we're discovering the charm and beauty of continental regions through creative materials. Croatia offers much more than sunshine and the sea, and our task is to bring that wealth closer to both domestic and foreign tourists," said CNTB director Kristjan Stanicic.

He also emphasised his satisfaction with the results of the CNTB campaign so far, which, according to him, has been confirmed by the increase in tourist traffic in the continental counties of the country where - excluding the City of Zagreb - around 1.7 million overnight stays have been achieved so far this year, equal to an impressive 40 percent more than last year.

The Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac, noted that the goal of sustainable tourism development across Croatia is the stronger use of the continental part of the country's rich potential and year-round tourism.

"The rural areas of Croatia offer tourists all year round a lot of content, a handful of which we show in this new campaign, from activities in nature, enjoying an authentic gastronomic offer to exploring historical attractions and getting better acquainted with the culture and lives of the local population. Such content is increasingly attracting modern tourists, as evidenced by the fact that in the current part of the year, the tourist traffic in continental Croatian counties has reached 95 percent of the numbers realised back during the same period in 2019,'' said Minister Brnjac.

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

July the 24th, 2022 - The Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB/HTZ) has launched an innovative new campaign involving the senses at Split Airport, and it appears to be winning over the many tourists passing through there at the moment.

As Morski writes, the CNTB is referring to their newly launched Split Airport campaign as a new, interesting and innovative one, which they claim delights foreign guests entering the country. Many passengers, leaving the planes and entering the area of ​​the Split Airport, can feel the specific smells of the Mediterranean - sea, pine trees, fresh citrus, lemon, orange, lavender, white cedar, and the list goes on.

According to research carried out the field of marketing and promotion, as much as 75 percent of a person's emotions are invoked by smells, which is one of the most important sensations in shaping reality, mood and concentration. Based on this, an interactive panel which displays the words "Croatia - Immerse your senses" was installed at Split Airport, which emits Mediterranean scents with appropriate animations.

''We at the CNTB follow modern trends in the promotion of tourism all the time, which has been confirmed by this interesting campaign that attracts the attention of many passers-by, that is, our guests at the most frequented locations, and in the middle of the peak summer tourist season, that is certainly at airports. We want to be innovative and immediately give our guests a feeling of summer, rest and comfort, and at the same time interest them and inform them about other Croatian destinations and parts of our overall tourist offer,'' said the director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Kristjan Stanicic, adding that this activity will be being carried out until the end of July.

The campaign also includes several additional locations in the City of Split, where digital panels are set up on which shots of other Croatian destinations are displayed.

Activities are also being carried out further south in Dubrovnik Airport (Cilipi), where the so-called ''digital towers'' that display video material work to promote the overall offer of Croatia as a tourist destination and showcase some of the most beautiful and attractive landscapes of the country to new arrivals.

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

July 20, 2022 - The 2022 Croatian peak season is in full swing, with around 980,000 tourists currently in Croatia!

About 980,000 tourists are currently staying in Croatia - with 97 percent of the overnight stays achieved compared to the record July 2019. These latest data were presented by the director of the Croatian Tourist Board in Šibenik, where a coordination meeting was held with representatives of tourist boards from Šibenik-Knin County, reports HRT.

In addition to HTZ director Kristjan Staničić and 13 representatives of the tourist boards of cities and municipalities from the county, the coordination included Šibenik-Knin prefect Marko Jelić and Rudolf Štefan, a member of the HTZ tourism council, and the owner of Šibenik's Pelegrini, HTZ announced.

During the meeting, they spoke about the tourist offer and attractions in the county, where the representatives of the local tourist boards pointed out that they are delighted with the current season and the announcements for the postseason.

Thus, in Šibenik-Knin County, the most overnight stays were recorded in Vodice, Šibenik, and Rogoznica, while, for example, Betina surpassed the tourist result from the record in 2019.

They also believe that in July, they will reach the results from the record 2019 in Primošten. Knin is recording an increase in accommodation capacities such as family apartments. The same is the case with Skradin, especially in the segment of more luxurious holiday homes with a swimming pool. HTZ added that Tisno is celebrating 100 years of organized tourism next year, which, in cooperation with HTZ, will be used in advertising on broadcasting markets.

Staničić emphasized the importance of cooperation between the local tourist boards.

"In this way, you can achieve greater promotional visibility and recognition that tourists will be able to appreciate," he said.

He reported that around 980,000 tourists are currently staying in Croatia, while last year at this time, there were approximately 900,000.

"We are at 97 percent of overnight stays achieved in July 2019. Everyone's goal is the dispersion of tourists throughout the year and to achieve as much income from tourism as possible," Staničić said, adding that additional promotional activities are planned for the best post-season, especially in the markets of Slovenia, Hungary, and Germany.

Jelić pointed out that the season is significantly better this year than last.

"What is very important to our visitors and us is that they feel safe in the county, and I would especially like to praise the tourist facilities and numerous events in our destinations. I believe that if we continue like this, we could surpass the results from the record-breaking 2019," said Jelić.

HTZ reported that the topic of the meeting was to allocate funds from the United Tourist Boards Fund, the eVisitor system was discussed, and the current progress in the development of the Strategic Marketing and Operational Plan of Croatian Tourism until 2026 was presented, which will be a turning point in implementing future promotional activities in Croatian tourism.

They also discussed recent changes that will take place in Croatia with the introduction of the euro and the country's entry into the Schengen area, which is estimated to have a positive impact on future tourist flows and trends.

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

ZAGREB, 12 July 2022 - The Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) has launched an advertising campaign in the United States this month to promote the tourism products, attractions and destinations in which American tourists are showing the greatest interest, the HTZ said on Tuesday.

The campaign is being conducted until mid-October in cooperation with Expedia, a leading global travel platform that covers over 200 websites in over 70 countries across the globe and which is a very popular tool used by Americans in searching for travel destinations.

The HTZ said that 230,000 Americans had visited Croatia so far this year, an increase of 220 per cent compared with the same period last year. They generated over 710,000 bed nights, which is 152 per cent more than in 2021 and 15 per cent less than in the record-breaking pre-pandemic 2019. Their favourite destinations were Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb, Hvar, Opatija and Rovinj.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

May the 25th, 2022 - The new Law on Tourist Boards and the Promotion of Croatian Tourism, more precisely the legal provisions which entered into force on the 1st of January this year, has made it so that the term of office of elected directors of tourist boards will now last for four years, and contracts concluded for indefinite periods will be changed to fixed-term contracts. Bol Tourist Board director Markito Marinkovic has taken his argument all the way to the Constitutional Court.

As Dalmatinski portal writes, this resulted in some very serious headaches to multiple local tourist boards. More and more tourist boards are publicly pointing out the illogicality of legal changes that have now put directors at a disadvantage. Criticism was directed primarily at the relevant Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the initiator of the disputed law, holding it responsible for what they consider to be such poor legislation.

Everything is actually happening at a very untimely moment, at a time when local communities are preparing seriously and diligently for the rapidly approaching summer tourist season, which, according to all projections, is expected to surpass last year's. There's no doubt that the most is expected from the tourist boards during this preparatory time. They are all already designing and planning their tourist programmes and facilities, organising events, and offering training sessions for private renters so that everyone is ready to accept tourists. Instead of all energies being directed to the best possible preparation of tourist destinations, the leaders of tourist boards, as well as the local governing units are having to spend their precious time dealing with the election of their directors, Brac danas (Brac today) writes.

The directors of local tourist boards are outraged at the move

It was these elections that caused an avalanche of dissatisfaction, and the tourist boards were forced to act according to legal provisions which, according to the public, don't really seem very logical, justified or meaningful. The negative reactions are mostly coming in from out in the field, and the directors of the tourist boards are indignant. I can't believe what they're doing at the moment and how, in their opinion, the Ministry is overstepping when it comes to their rights and everything they've done and are doing for the development of local tourism. One of them, the long-term director of the Tourist Board in Bol, Markito Marinkovic, went through all the joys and sorrows of engaging in work related to tourism, in that particular island tourist Mecca, won numerous awards, and is now full of astonishment at the controversial decisions being made by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport in the form of a law which applies to the directors of tourist boards.

Marinkovic warns: This provision is applicable only in pro futuro sense...

''After 27 years of work, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport is questioning my employment contract, which I've concluded for an indefinite period of time,'' said the current director of the Bol Tourist Board, Markito Marinkovic, who is also a signatory of the request for constitutional review of the Law on Tourist Boards and the Promotion of Croatian Tourism. After consulting with legal experts, that request was sent to the address of the Constitutional Court, requesting that the Constitutional Court address this issue, which, as he said, will result in some serious legal consequences.

Marinkovic is ready to show the documentation with which he's armed himself, including the request he sent to the Constitutional Court, emphasising that the main problem of legal norms is their application to current (read existing) directors of tourist boards, instead of having them apply solely to any new directors.

''This provision is applicable only pro futuro (for future actions) and only for new employment and concluding employment contracts with directors of tourist boards who were employed after the 1st of January 2022. We can't apply this provision to directors who concluded their employment contracts for an indefinite period of time before the entry into force of the new Law on Tourist Board, because in that case, there'd be a violation of Article 90 Paragraph 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia on the prohibition of the retroactive application of the law,'' Markito Marinkovic says when reading part of the request that has now been sent to the Constitutional Court, not hesitating to say that this is a law that is unconstitutional and illegal.

The Ministry of Tourism wrote back in 2012: There are no obstacles to the conclusion of an indefinite contract

In an interview for Brac danas, Markito Marinkovic openly asked the following:

''Why would I agree to have my contract for an indefinite period of time terminated and instead accept an offer a contract for a part-time job?'' He noted that he signed his employment contract back on December the 15th, 2009, for an indefinite period of time as the tourist board director there. His contract was concluded in accordance with the provisions of the then Labour Act, the Law on Tourist Boards and the Promotion of Croatian Tourism, as well as the provisions of the Statute of the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Bol. The fact that there is nothing disputable in his contract was confirmed by the Ministry of Tourism in its interpretation on June the 27th, 2012, to which Marinkovic refers, and in which he unequivocally points out that ''there is no obstacle to concluding an employment contract for an indefinite period in accordance with the Labour Law as the regulator''.

Marinkovic also pointed out the absurdity of these new legal provisions, claiming that tourist boards will elect directors who already have employees within the tourist board.

Marinkovic: We'll end up with two directors, one for an indefinite period and the other for a definite period...

Formerly ''protected'' directors of tourist boards, who were employed indefinitely with their employers, will now be elected for a fixed term, more precisely for a term of four years, as determined by the now disputed law. Current directors will now find themselves at the mercy of their employers who, according to instructions issued to the tourist boards by the competent Ministry, should terminate existing contracts and offer them amended contracts with a specific duration attached to them. Such a thing is simply not acceptable for Markito Marinkovic, which is the reason why he didn't apply for the position of head of the Bol Tourist Board.

''It seems that we're going to have two directors by the will of the ministry; one for an indefinite period of time, and the other for a definite period, which will be elected by the Tourist Council under the new Act,'' he added, noting that the instructions, written back in December last year and subsequently sent out to the country's local tourist boards, are also confusing and difficult to follow properly. According to the guidelines signed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport's Monika Udovicic, current directors who aren't selected in a tender and those to whom the institution doesn't offer another job within the tourist board will receive a termination of their employment contract.

''How is it possible for a director to become an organisational redundancy, and for someone else to be hired for that position? The Labour Law stipulates that a business-related dismissal (contract termination) can only be given if the need to perform a certain job ceases. In addition to that, another person can't be hired following that for the next six months,'' Markito Marinkovic said, clearly terribly surprised by the numerous illogicalities that the Ministry somehow keeps on coming up with owing to their controversial decisions and interpretations of things.

Why was the tender for the position of the director of the Bol Tourist Board cancelled?

When it comes to the tender for the election of the director of the Tourist Board of Bol, it became somewhat unstuck on the very first step. After the tender deadline expired, and interested candidates submitted their applications and received notification(s) of the presentation of the programme at a session of the Tourist Council, the same council, at the suggestion of the President of that body of the Tourist Board, Katarina Marcic, agreed to the cancellation of the tender. The explanation for that was:

''We want to eliminate every single slight suspicion of illegality of the procedure. According to Marcic's announcement and her public attempt to explain the reasons why the tender was annulled, these aren't serious irregularities, at least not according to the statement of the Ministry to which Marcic refers. It's true, the tender was open for 21 days, while the recommendations lasted from 8 to 15 days. Experts on the election procedures we contacted are of the opinion that the tender deadline which is longer than the deadline recommended by the competent ministry should not call into question the legality of the election procedure. All in all, a new tender will be drawn up, a check by the Ministry will be awaited, and then another tender will be announced. Whether it's really an election procedure or some other reason why the Tourist Council decided to return everything to the beginning, only time can tell.

The Constitutional Court has since confirmed: The case has been assigned to a judge-rapporteur

Brac danas contacted the Constitutional Court. They were interested in what happened to the request for a review of constitutionality under the controversial Law on Tourist Boards and the Promotion of Croatian Tourism, and when the request would be on the agenda. The Constitutional Court confirmed that it had received a motion for assessment.

''The case has been assigned to a judge-rapporteur, and at this moment it isn't possible to predict when it could be sent to the session of the Court to decide on the proposal,'' said the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court, Dr. Teodor Antic. Back in mid-April, Markito Marinkovic addressed the Constitutional Court yet again, this time in a hurry, at a time when the tender for the position of director was open.

''Considering that in the meantime, more precisely on April the 1st, 2022, the Tourist Council of the Tourist Board of Bol announced a public tender for the election of the director for a term of four years referring to the provisions of ZTZ, and ignoring the employment contract concluded on an indefinite basis between me and the Tourist Board of Bol for the same job for which a public tender has now been announced. It's obvious that the implementation of this tender will violate my employment rights,'' Markito Marinkovic wrote in his letter. He emphasised, in addition, that the above-mentioned actions of tourist boards will generate numerous lawsuits in the near future due to the disputed provisions of the law.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sport isn't responding to press inquiries on the matter

Given the fact that only the competent ministry is looking at the disputed tender for the director of the Bol Tourist Board, and especially at the request sent to Prisavlje 14 in Zagreb by a concerned resident of Bol, asking for the tender to be annulled, the ministry was also asked to comment on the topic. A press inquiry with specific questions was sent to the Press Service on May the 1st, as Brac danas had received an anonymous letter to its editorial e-mail about a possible illegal tender being announced by the Tourist Council.

The aforementioned publication still hasn't received a response from the Ministry of Tourism and Sport. On several occasions, they also tried to contact the Media Service by phone and find out what this delay was about. After several calls, they were once connected to the press service, and in another case, an official of the ministry apologised for not providing a timely response. A reminder of the inquiry was then sent to the cabinet of the same Ministry, on May the 6th, asking for answers to the questions which had been sent already. However, the main cabinet of the Ministry of Tourism and Sport hasn't yet responded or attempted to clarify any of the issued mentioned in this article.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 19 April 2022 - About 135,000 tourists stayed in Croatia over the Easter holidays, on 15-18 April, generating 493,000 nights, 346,000 more than over Easter 2021, the National Tourist Board (HTZ)  said on Tuesday.

Foreign tourists accounted for 103,000 arrivals and 412,000 nights, while registered domestic tourists accounted for 31,000 arrivals and 80,000 nights.

Istria County saw the largest number of nights at 188,000.

The most popular destinations in terms of nights were Poreč, Rovinj, Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Split, Umag and Zadar.

Tourists from Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and Slovakia accounted for the largest number of nights. Most of them stayed in hotels, which registered 210,000 nights, followed by private accommodation (112,000) and campsites (99,000).

HTZ director Kristjan Staničić said the numbers indicated that Croatia could enter the summer season with exceptional results and trends.