February 5, 2020 - The Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board participated in the New York Times Travel Show from January 24 to 26, 2020, in New York City.

Judging by the interest in the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board booth at the recently concluded 17th New York Times Travel Show, an excellent number of guests from the US market could visit the region this year. This County, led by director Josko Stella, is more than pleased with the feedback, and the attendance and interest were excellent, said Stella, noting that numerous visitors, as well as colleagues from participating countries, were delighted with their presentation. Recall that from January 24 to 26, the Big Apple hosted a global tourism summit, a valued fair, which brought together 550 exhibitors from 170 countries.

With 30,000 professionals from the tourism industry, the New York Times Travel Show brought the best of the best from all over the world. Split-Dalmatia County had a lot to be proud of. 

“Split-Dalmatia County has been presented at the New York Fair for the third year now, with the recently completed fair bringing us great attendance. Dare I say, never better. We were presented with our best, most beautiful, natural wonders, cultural sights, but also what interests the American market most, like the Game of Thrones filming locations, and the movie mega-hit Mamma Mia, links to Meštrović… All this is more than a strong wind at our backs, given the fact that last year the Americans ranked seventh in the number of arrivals. They realized 473,000 overnights, which is 13 percent more than in the previous periods. And that is certainly one of the important reasons for our already traditional presence at this significant fair,” said Stella.

The Split-Dalmatia County delegation included representatives from the top of tourism, people from the private sector, Suncani Hvar, Split's Cornaro hotel, and people from the Tourist Board of Split and Kastela. The Split Tourist Board also participated in the prize competition. Also impressive was the presentation of the Kastela Tourist Board, which introduced the famous Kastela red Zinfandel wine, thought by Americans to be of their origin. However, this fair was also an excellent opportunity for visitors to get acquainted with the fact that this premium wine originates from Dalmatia by its genetic roots.

“At fairs of this kind, with this kind of attendance from a critical market, are places where we definitely need to appear in our tourism planning strategy. The number of American tourists coming to our area is increasing every year. In addition to Dubrovnik and Zagreb, they have become numerically important in their favorite locations in Split, Hvar, in many areas of our county. We have to brag about how our county has become one of America's most important holiday destinations. The excellent impressions we have collected present the data of the current tourist barometer. We are very pleased with our presentation and delighted with the feedback,” added Stella.

A well-designed presentation strategy included another important item - a sweepstake that garnered a lot of interest from visitors. The prize fund included a two-week free stay in the county - 14 nights total, seven at Suncani Hvar, and seven days at the Cornaro Split Hotel. 

“The prize game went beyond our expectations. The lucky winner was truly thrilled. She will be greeted with a paid holiday, top quality accommodation, flights sponsored by Croatia Airlines in partnership with the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board and the Split Tourist Board, while accommodation will be provided by Suncani Hvar Hotel and Cornaro Split Hotel. The five remaining lucky ones went home with a bottle of Kastela's prized wine sponsored by the Kastela Tourist Board. Summarizing our participation, we can say with pleasure that this fair helps us to position ourselves in the US market as best we can,” Josko Stella said.

There is no rest for tourist workers in Croatia, as these fairs are genuine opportunities for direct publicity. Thus, it is not surprising that the county delegation, with a lot of prepared material, does most of their logistic preparations in the early months of the year. After New York, Stella and his team, intensified by private sector representatives from Split-Dalmatia County, went to Atlanta for a workshop. Other Croatian counties will join them there. The task is clear - they are waiting to be presented, promoted, but also to make even better deals with US agencies. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

January 25, 2020 - The Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), which is at the New York Times Travel Show from January 24 to 26, said that Croatia is among the most sought-after tourist destinations, based on the results of market research and the booking announcements by major tourist associations. 

Glas Istre reports that HTZ Director Kristjan Stanicic also visited the fair, along with the tourist boards from Zagreb, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Split-Dalmatia, Zadar and Lika-Senj counties, who are also presenting their offer in New York, HTZ announced.

“Presenting the Croatian tourism offer at the New York Fair is of strategic importance, especially if we know that the US market is one of the most important distant markets for Croatia, from which we generate the largest tourist traffic.

The continuation of American Airlines flights between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik will further stimulate US tourist traffic this year, and the ultimate goal we are intensively working on is stronger air connections between the US and Croatia,” said Stanicic.

He noted that 655,000 arrivals and more than 1.8 million overnight stays were recorded in Croatia last year by American tourists, which represents an annual increase of 12 percent.

During his stay in New York, Stanicic met with representatives of Travel Show Marketing Group, a company that specializes in independent events and brings together tourist entities, buyers and sellers in forums they organize around the world. The topic of the meeting was related to the possibility of Croatia hosting the Travel Agent Forum in 2021, when it is estimated that the forum would bring together 90 European suppliers and travel partners and about 150 US travel agencies.

"This year's appearance at the New York Times Travel Show reaffirmed Croatia's popularity as a leading growing destination for Americans and announced another successful year with double-digit arrivals and overnight stays from the US. Croatia is truly one of the most desirable tourist destinations, supported by the market research results and booking announcements by major travel associations such as USTOA, Virtuoso, Signature Travel Network and Travel Leaders Group, and numerous articles in leading US media such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, Financial Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, USA Today,” said Ina Rodin, director of the HTZ New York office.

A meeting was also held with representatives of the platform and mobile application TravPRO MOBILE, the first of its kind in the market to connect mobile learning and sales. It is an agent training and sales consulting program designed to help agents sell destinations more effectively. Currently, they provide services to more than 60,000 professional travel advisors from the United States and are also collaborating with China's leading B2B travel agency, Dragon Trail Interactive.

Otherwise, major trends in Americans' travel last year include multi-generational travel, discovering new destinations and authentic experiences - or “Live Like A Local" experiences, "transformational" travel, responsible tourism, active tourism, and cruises. Americans in Croatia especially love visits to natural and cultural attractions with a focus on UNESCO sites, nautical tourism, active holidays, and especially visits to locations where the famous HBO series Game of Thrones was filmed, as well as one-of-a-kind gastronomic experiences. Americans visit Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb most. 

The New York Times Travel Show is visited by more than 35,000 visitors who view the offer of more than 700 exhibitors from 175 countries around the world, making this fair the largest tourism fair in North America.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

For the 14th year in a row, the New York Times Travel Show was held at the Jacob K. Javits conference center in New York City.