January the 26th, 2022 - Could Croatian 2022 nautical tourism be excellent this summer season? It seems as if Croatian charter companies have good reason to expect a record season, despite the pandemic.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, judging by the last tourist season and the current state of reservations, Croatian 2022 nautical tourism could result in record traffic, but not without some accompanying challenges.

One of the challenges will certainly be disrupted supply chains due to which there will be no new vessels, but Croatia has a comparative advantage because it has a relatively young fleet. Taking everything into account, charterers should finally try to come to their senses and stop lowering their prices to the limits of profitability, especially in the post-season, which is currently filling up rather well indeed in terms of bookings.

This is the message of Selma Cmelnik, the director of the Charter.hr portal, on the occasion of the publication of the analysis of the charter market in 2021, a year which, despite pandemic-induced conditions, was extremely successful for the Croatian nautical tourism segment.

Although there's somewhat more caution in the pre-season, trends still provide a sense of hope and optimism, but the charter still lacks better strategic planning and unified statistics, believes Cmelnik.

"Boat rental reservations in Croatia for the summer are going very well at the minute, so far everything indicates that Croatian 2022 nautical tourism could hit the records. Currently, the months of July and September appear to be the best, and September has traditionally become a very popular month for sailing, and there are more and more guests.

During the coronavirus pandemic, this segment has proven to be very resilient and desirable to guests, and it’s time to sort out that market, introduce some digital tools, and start thinking in line with trends.

An example is the month of September, a month in which prices are significantly lower than they are in the month before, which is one legacy of the past that is slowly changing in the charter segment, and so profitability is falling. With the increase in supply over recent years, the dumping of prices has appeared in nautical tourism, which should now stop, because the demand is strong,'' pointed out Cmelnik.

This was shown last year as well, as stated in the analysis of the Charter.hr portal. Although it started relatively late in early May, the charter season last year achieved some truly outstanding results, with high occupancy of accommodation from June all the way to the end of October 2021.

In the charter season of 2021, 3.1 million overnight stays were realised, equal to about 90 percent of the arrivals recorded back in pre-pandemic 2019, with a reduced fleet of about 500 vessels when compared to the pre-pandemic year. Therefore, with the increased demand, the capacity was also quickly filled up.

''The arrival numbers of guests from certain markets have doubled compared to 2020. The traditional markets of Germany, Austria and Slovenia continued to show their loyalty in arrivals, as did the Czechs and the Slovaks. That said, last year also saw the largest number of guests from the United States to date. We can rightly speak of a kind of discovery of Croatia as a nautical destination for guests from America,'' noted Cmelnik.

It is predicted that charters and nautical tourism will be on the rise across all spheres precisely because of the easily sustainable safety and privacy parameters. Looking at the bigger picture, nautical tourism saw its opportunity, both because of the delayed bookings in 2020 that shifted to last year, and because of the flexibility that charter companies have shown. The biggest change that stood out were inquiries for longer-term rentals, ie the amount of time that guests wanted to spend on board increased.

There are many parameters that the current charter statistics don't actually record, in addition to being partially unavailable, warned Selma Cmelnik, who is looking forward to the opening of new databases announced by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure for this year.

“The eCrew system, which is integrated with the eVisitor system, published by the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), gives us data only when guests are actually in Croatia. Charter companies need to review the trends before guests do arrive so that they can more easily plan their sales and marketing strategies for the season and during the season,'' believes Cmelnik, who is actively working on the availability of this data so that the market can be better researched and monitored.

For more, check out our travel section.

October the 4th, 2021 - Recently in the beautiful town of Skradin, ACI Marina Skradin took home an award for its exceptional contribution to nautical tourism, a branch of tourism which has been blossoming very well along the Croatian coast for some time now.

As Novac/Jutarnji writes, on the occasion of the Skradin's city day, which was recently marked, a session of the City Council was held. At that session, ACI Marina Skradin took home the award for its exceptional contribution to the development of nautical tourism, ACI announced. The member of the Management Board - the director of the company ACI d.d., Kristijan Pavic, was presented with the award by the Mayor Antonijo Brajkovic and the President of the City Council Nadija Zorica.

Thanks to the quality of the offer and service, but also the social engagement of the local ACI Marina Skradin, this picturesque little town has become a recognisable tourist destination to many. On this occasion, the director of ACI, Kristijan Pavic, congratulated the residents of Skradin on their day, thanked them for recognizsng the efforts that ACI invests in the nautical development of Skradin and expressed hope for the continuation of successful cooperation with the local community.

Thanks to boasting accommodation near some of the most popular Croatian natural attractions, such as the Krka National Park and river, Skradinski buk and Roski slap, ACI Marina Skradin is a very rare pearl in the Mediterranean which successfully attracts more and more boaters looking for the perfect blend of nature, culture and gastronomy.

Recognising this, ACI continuously monitors the needs and interests of boaters and other guests and expands their offer to make the entire Croatian tourist product even more attractive to precisely this sector of tourism. One of the examples for this is of course the ACI star of the day, ACI Marina Skradin, which, in addition to the secured and controlled parking space for guests' cars, has a brand new anchor system, which has increased the length of the marina. Moreover, an annual berth has so far only been available for vessels up to 30 metres in length, and recently the possibility of the safe reception of vessels up to 40 metres in length has been presented, ACI's statement said.

In addition to all of the above, in cooperation with the Zdjelarevic family and some of the very best Croatian winemakers, ACI Marina Skradin provided a rich offer for all of its guests in the newly opened Vinoretum Croatian Fine Wine Shop Boutique wine shop and delicatessen, with emphasis on Croatian products and indigenous varieties of wine, which number over 130 in Croatia, of which only about 10 are available on the market.

Some of these wines are available in the wine shop at ACI Marina Skradin, and thanks to that, boaters can get much better acquainted with Croatian winemakers and their top quality products directly. Skradin is undoubtedly one of the most special and unique Croatian destinations in every aspect and it is important to continue with the systematic improvement of the entire tourist offer of the town. Therefore, the cooperation of the local tourist board and Skradin with ACI and the stronger nautical positioning of Skradin are an excellent example of improving the entire Croatian tourist offer and a significant basis for strengthening domestic tourism, the statement concludes.

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

September the 5th, 2021 - There's bad promotion and there's bad promotion. Unfortunately, it's difficult for it to get much worse than this for the country's nautical tourism as Croatian officials are secretly filmed by some British tourists asking for the payment of fees which don't even exist.

As Morski writes, after the recent scandal from the Slavonski Samac border crossing, where two Croatian customs officers asked for a bribe from a foreign tourist, another scandal related to bribes this time involving other Croatian officials managed to remain outside the Croatian media space - until now that is. The location is Dubrovnik, the month is July, and two British sailor bloggers used a hidden camera to film Croatian officials charging them non-existent fees.

The British informed the Croatian Ministry of Tourism, which confirmed that the officials in question had indeed deceived them.

Carefree sailing along the Croatian coast for a pair of British sailors turned into a first-class scandal, which was documented and published on their YouTube channel and on a website that brings together sailors. It all happened back in July this year when the British couple went to the authorities located in Dubrovnik to announced their departure from Croatian waters, with the aim of continuing their journey down south to nearby Montenegro.

It seems innocent enough, but when they got to speak to the Croatian officials, they fined them the equivalent of 100 pounds because they allegedly failed to pay the additional sojourn tax. The police didn't explain to them exactly what the fee in question was, but the British sailors had to pay it. And in cash.

The sailors state that after this odd incident they contacted the Croatian Ministry of Tourism regarding the disputed payment, and they were told in an official response that there is no such sojourn tax or legal article that obliges boaters to pay such fees. In other words, the Croatian officials based in Dubrovnik robbed them. The British tourists naturally demanded a refund.

''I have to admit that this event left a bitter taste in my mouth. While we were sailing towards Montenegro, we agreed that we'd never return to Croatia again,'' the unsurprisingly indignant British woman said in her video.

The video's description reads: ''It was a shock to be threatened with arrest and have our passports taken away when trying to check out of Croatia. We have had problems before with Croatian officials but we really didn't expect this level of illegal activity'' which is damning for Croatian nautical tourism, which is otherwise very popular. The comments below are also from people who are now reconsidering paying the Croatian coast a visit.

Watch the video in full below:

The Ministry of Tourism was then asked to provide a comment on this case, as their services had indeed responded to the British tourists in question that the tax they had to pay to the officials did not even exist. Attempts have also been made to find out whether the individuals working for the police in question were properly punished for extortion, but no response has been received yet.

An initial report stated that the officers involved were customs officers, but that was swiftly corrected by Croatian customs, who stated that they have nothing to do with foreign nationals and their notifications about leaving Croatia, and that this was a matter involving the police, not them.

It is also important to note that Croatian customs officers operate under the Ministry of Finance, and not under the Interior Ministry (MUP), like the police do.

For more, make sure to follow our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 12 April, 2021 - Nautical tourism ports generated a total revenue of HRK 812 million in 2020, which was 11.6% less than in the record year 2019, and most of that revenue or 73.3% refers to berth rental, the State Bureau of Statistics (DZS) reported on Monday.

Revenue from berth rental in 2020 amounted to HRK 598 million, which is a decrease of 8.2% on the year.

Statistics indicate that revenue decreased in all Adriatic counties, with the biggest decrease of 23.3% on the year recorded in Dubrovnik-Neretva County. This was followed by Split-Dalmatia County (-17.4%), Istria County (-15%), Šibenik-Knin County (-11%), Zadar County (-6.4%) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (-2.6%).

The statistics relate to 185 nautical tourism ports with 18,625 berths. There was a slight increase in permanent berths of 0.4% y-o-y with 14,312 vessels being permanently berthed in Croatia as at 31 December 2020.

The majority of vessels permanently berthed sail under the Croatian flag (44.1%) followed by Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy, with an increase of vessels under the German and Slovenian flags of 3% and 1.7% respectively compared to 2019.

DZS underscored that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a fall in the number of vessels in transit y-o-y. Last year there were 121,536 vessels in transit or 40.7% less than in 2019.

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

October 8, 2020 - Nautics has emerged this year as a tourism segment that is quite resilient to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Small communities, hidden coves, and natural isolation make nautics stronger than corona.

This year, as in previous years, the Nautical Patrol of Jutarnji list organized a research route through Croatian marinas, from Umag to Dubrovnik. Their goal was to explore and find the best marina according to the answers of the surveyed boaters. Marinas were also rated by an expert jury, and the results will be announced soon.

They set out on their journey with the hypothesis that nautical tourism has the highest chance of a speedy recovery, precisely because of its specificity. And they were right.

During their patrol, they did not encounter a single case of coronavirus infection in any Croatian marina, so their hypothesis was confirmed. Nautical tourism is sustainable even in a pandemic.

What makes nautical specific?

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, one of the most commonly used words around the world has been "isolation". People around the world sought to stay in their homes thus creating their own isolation. But for boaters, isolation is a lifestyle.

They live on their own or rented boats in small communities, which makes it possible to isolate themselves, and that's exactly what most of them want. That's why they like hidden coves and quiet anchorages that form natural isolation, and on the Croatian coast, they can find them in abundance.

Nautical tourism is sustainable even in a pandemic / Copyright Romulić and Stojčić

On the other hand, they also love our marinas because they provide them with a safe berth. Also, since marinas are organized as a kind of closed settlements, it is easy to implement control and protection measures in them.

During the pandemic, the use of delivery services increased worldwide, and that is also possible in Croatian marinas. Everything the boaters needed was delivered to their boat.

Infection stronger than corona

Another specificity is their self-discipline. As reported by Nautical Patrol reporters, adherence to epidemiological measures in marinas was at a high level.

However, boaters generally adhere to the accepted rules of attitude towards the environment in all circumstances, especially in emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic, because they spend a lot of time adrift at sea.

In other words, "nautical" infection is stronger than corona, and this has been confirmed over the past nautical season.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

As Morski writes on the 25th of September, 2020, more than 140 exhibitors have registered their participation in this year's Biograd Boat Show. This fact showcases the resilience of the nautical industry and instils optimism in these challenging business times. As we get closer to the opening, we can expect that many applications will be confirmed.

The Biograd Boat Show, organised and hosted by Ilirija d.d., a tourist company from Biograd na Moru near Zadar, will adapt its edition this year to these new and unprecedented circumstances. In order to respect the epidemiological measures of maintaining social distance, the largest fair of vessels in Central Europe will be held one day longer, over a total of five days in the period from the 21st to the 25th of October in Marina Kornati, Biograd na Moru. Since the fair is open and at sea, the fresh air and open spaces provide a safer environment.

The three largest exhibitors will exhibit at the Biograd Boat Show with a total of 28 vessels with an average length of more than 11 metres. So far, the largest reported vessel to be exhibited is the Elling E6, which is 20 metres long. Ilirija d.d. has received the full support of the Zadar County Civil Civil Protection Headquarters for the Biograd Boat Show and continues to plan events in accordance with the prescribed measures to ensure the safety of exhibitors and visitors alike.

In order to meet the international and national health and safety criteriam Ilirija d.d. will monitor the current situation very carefully and prepares for the introduction of measures intended for public safety, ie the safety of exhibitors and visitors against the spread of the new coronavirus. As a golden member of IFBSO, the International Federation of Boat Show Organisers, Ilirija d.d. will cooperate with its colleagues in the adoption of new safety measures and similar standards in the organisation of the fair.

In the past twenty-one years, the Biograd Boat Show has established itself as a top nautical event, the largest boat fair in Central Europe and an unavoidable nautical tourism event in Croatia, where all its key segments gather in one place. Aware of the role and importance of the Biograd Boat Show for the nautical industry and tourism, the fair will showcase its novelties in October and will certainly speed up and facilitate B2B networking for the preparation of the business year 2021.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

September 21, 2020 - Croatia features on Safe Harbor, a show on the Nautical Channel, as a safe and desirable nautical destination. 

HRTurizam reports that the Croatian Tourist Board promoted nautical tourism on the TV show "Safe Harbor", which airs on the Nautical Channel and is watched by more than 200 million viewers in over 100 countries around the world.

A total of 20 five-minute shows will be broadcast from various Croatian nautical destinations to present Croatia as a safe and desirable nautical destination, attracting as many sailors as possible to our country.

Destinations that will be promoted through 20 shows on the Nautical Channel are Vis, Dubrovnik, Cres, Korcula, Rovinj, Split, Mali Losinj, Primosten, Rab, Brac, Skradin, Makarska, Pag, Murter, Omis, Vodice, Ugljan, Ston, Sibenik and Dugi Otok.

As pointed out by the Croatian National Tourist Board, in addition to the tourist offer of the destinations themselves, the shows will present various attractions for boaters, safe ports and bays, marinas, and a rich Croatian eno-gastronomic offer. Special emphasis was placed on Croatia's excellent traffic position and proximity to important markets, and staying on nautical vessels was highlighted as one of the safest forms of accommodation.

The Nautical Channel was created in 2011, by merging the Sailing Channel and the Yacht & Sail channel, and is broadcast via hundreds of well-known international platforms. The content of this program is focused on sailing and nautical sports, surfing, kite-boarding, nautical news, travel, and interviews with famous athletes.

As we know, nautical tourism is the first to open and close the tourist season in Croatia, with a fleet of over 4,300 vessels, more than 140 nautical ports with over 17,000 berths and over a million cruise passengers, Croatia is certainly a nautical superpower and one of the most important nautical destinations not only in the Mediterranean but also globally.

The average consumption of nautical tourists is 126 euro per day, and in the charter, 183 euro per day. More than 30 percent of that money is spent on other forms of tourism, from the cultural to wine and gastronomic offer, according to the research TOMAS NAUTIKA YACHTING 2017.

In the summer, nautical charter achieved 70 percent of last year's result, and only in the previous part of September, almost 200 nights in the nautical charter were realized.

This year, we also finally experienced an upgrade of Croatian nautical tourism.

Namely, the e-Citizens system, which currently has over 800,000 users, has been enhanced by three more e-services since the beginning of this year. One of the novelties, at least as far as tourism is concerned, is a new service via "e-Nautika".

Thus, from now on, through the "e-Nautika" service of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, online registration of the arrival of a foreign vessel or Croatian boat in Croatian territorial waters is possible, for the purpose of payment and taking over the electronic confirmation of payment of the navigation safety fee. It also finally allows boaters to pay tourist tax online.

Thus, this year, a multilingual portal nautika.evisitor.hr was opened, which guides boaters in a simple and clear way through the process of registration and payment of tourist tax. 

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

Nautical tourism is a very promising branch of Croatia's most important economic branch, and the idea is now to make sure that nautical tourism is what Croatia becomes known for, and not as a mere party destination.

As Novac writes on the 27th of August, 2020, at the suggestion of the Association of Accommodation Providers on Boats - the HGK charter, and in cooperation with the Sibenik-Knin County Tourist Board, the County Crisis Staff, the Sibenik-Knin County Public Health Institute and the Sibenik Health Centre, a tourist testing point was organised. The same is being sought by the Zadar County Tourist Board.

''For guests who came in spite of everything or for those who still want to come, and their home countries require testing on return, we must provide efficient and cheap testing for coronavirus,'' said Pasko Klisovic, president of the HGK charter. Some European countries aren't happy with the development of the epidemiological situation and are putting Croatia and some of its counties on their respective red lists. However, people's general comment, Klisovic said, is that they feel safer here in Croatia than they do back at home or at work, and they also enjoy themselves here.

A couple of isolated micro-hotspots (clubs and infections among the very young population) have been placed in the foreground, while the nautical tourist season has been going with the offer of the perfect self-isolation conditions for all guests (mostly families, couples and the elderly population, all of whom tend to spend more).

''We keep repeating what everyone already knows. Nautical tourism and charters are by far the safest form of holiday. Charter guests go directly to the boats from their car where they stay in their intimate environment for seven or more days, they don't go to any party events but only to marinas and restaurants where there will be no crowds now,'' explained Klisovic, adding that charters also have their very own protocol for receiving guests and handing over vessels, which guarantees a high level of security. Marinas also have their own protocols that involve extra security.

The aforementioned association says that they still have a large number of booked arrangements that haven't been cancelled and they're afraid that due to risky tourist facilities, the classic period for which is much shorter than that of the charter season and whose guests spend a third of the average consumption of charter guests, they will sacrifice literally half of the charter season.

''We lost the entire pre-season, we can't afford to lose the post-season,'' said Klisovic, nothing that if nothing is done, Croatia will lose not only the post-season, but also part of its charter companies, ie jobs which are either directly or indirectly related to them.

In view of all this, the association has stated that it is urgent to introduce and implement measures that can reduce the number of daily infections to the level those numbers were at at least a month ago and to provide as many points for the fast and affordable testing of guests as a condition for returning to their countries of residence. They also pointed out that Croatia must do more to promote nautical tourism as a specific type of holiday, which by all elements is currently the safest form of tourism.

For more on Croatian nautical tourism, follow our travel section.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

As Novac writes on the 5th of August, 2020, as the Croatian tourist season progresses, Croatian nautical records are getting better and better, this was especially true for the month of July. If we exclude the data on mini cruisers, the total decline since the beginning of the year is 59 percent, while in July there was a decline of only 25 percent.

"The changes in the structure of guests are huge, Americans, and people from the UK, France and Scandinavia have practically disappeared in the area of ​​Sibenik, but Croats, Slovenes, Austrians and Germans have been a lot more present. The northern Adriatic has the least loss, and the further south we go, the more difficult the situation becomes. Dubrovnik is totally cut off. There is, yet again, the same denominator - planes,'' explained Pasko Klisovic, President of the Association of Vessel Accommodation Providers - Charter of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

The total number of charter guests fell by 65 percent, so in the first seven months of this year, Croatia was visited by 112,810 charterers, while in the same period last year that number stood at 317,700.

In particular, the decline in more northern marinas such as Punta or Marina Veruda is at 54 percent, while Dubrovnik has a decline of 85 percent. Central Dalmatia (Sibenik and Zadar) hold 45 percent of last year's turnover.

From the beginning of the year to July the 30th, 28,400 foreign yachts and boats were recorded in Croatian waters, up 67 percent when compared to the same period last year (42,700). For yachts longer than 20 metres, even better results have been recorded - 669 arrivals in 2020, which is 83 percent when compared to 2019, when 780 arrivals of such yachts were recorded.

On the other hand, small multi-day cruise ships had 48,587 guests in the first seven months of 2019, and only 2,690 guests in 2020, a drop of almost 95 percent.

As for the development of the situation until the end of the Croatian tourist season, Klisovic is cautiously optimistic. "The announcements for August and autumn are acceptable, if there are no more situations like this with the Dutch who put us on the orange list,'' he stated.

For more on the Croatian tourist season dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, follow our travel section.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

As Morski writes on the 7th of June, 2020, Croatia expected to earn an enormous amount of money this year from the budding and highly promising nautical tourism sector. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, of course, those earnings will be significantly lower, but not as low as in some other branches of Croatian tourism.

With the opening of the borders, sailors, who keep their boats in Croatian marinas, are continuing to arrive in increasing numbers, the first megayachts are entering Croatian waters, and a charter fleet has been launched, which Croatia has the most of and is among the most famous in the world, writes HRT.

Most foreigners perceive the Republic of Croatia as a destination free from coronavirus, while it would be a lie to say that is true, what can be said with utmost confidence is that Croatia has handled and is continuing to handle the pandemic exceptionally, making it among the safest countries in the world. Leading the way in the feeling of safety are those in nautical tourism and sailors who feel carefree in Croatian marinas and on their boats.

''A large number of guests came to us. We can't, of course, compare this and draw a parallel with last year. However, guests are indeed returning, and those who haven't yet arrived continue to express their desire to come as soon as possible. We even have new arrivals, which makes us happy,'' says Renata Marevic, director of the Punat marina.

This June, as we reported recently, the use of ACI marinas from Istria all the way down to the extreme south of Dalmatia is free of charge for the owners of boats berthed there throughout the year. They want to encourage arrivals and show that nautical tourism and sailing along the Croatian coast and to the islands is a safe venture to undertake. In addition to foreign sailors on their own vessels, a charter fleet has been launched, and megayachts are in sight.

''We had inquiries for mega-yachts coming from the markets of France, Spain and Italy, and even from the Caribbean. We have no specific inquiries for the transfer of the charter fleet from the Balearic Islands, but we have for megayachts. The marina in Rovinj is one of those in which we've been having talks and I believe that we'll manage to accommodate some of these ships because it was made for this type of client,'' says Kristijan Pavic of ACI.

For more on nautical tourism in Croatia, follow our travel section.