Half of Last Year's Overnight Stays in Croatia Recorded in First 2 Months of 2021
March 2, 2021 – Half of last year's overnight stays in Croatia were recorded in the first two months of this year, and most of the guests were domestic tourists.
As Hina finds out from the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB), in the first two months of 2021, there were slightly more than 205,000 tourists and 678,000 overnight stays in Croatia, which is about 50 percent from the same period in 2020. Most overnight stays were realized by the domestic tourists, who make up about 85 percent of last year's result.
About 30 percent of foreign tourists compared to 2020
January and February 2020 were the only months that year in which there was no (significant) impact of the pandemic on tourist traffic. Therefore, a better tourist result was achieved than in the same months of record 2019, so the results for the first two months of this year were good, especially since catering, sports, and recreational facilities were mostly closed, except for accommodation.
Travel restrictions and coronavirus measures in foreign countries have affected that the number of foreign tourists and overnight stays in Croatia in the first two months of this year, as well as at the end of last year, was less than that of domestic tourists. With a little more than 250,000 realized overnight stays, there were about 30 percent foreign tourists compared to last year.
Most overnight stays in the first two months of this year were realized in hotels (275,000), then in household facilities (234,000), and camps (24,000).
By counties, most overnight stays – about half of the total, were realized in three regions/counties – in Istria (135,000), in Kvarner (116,000), and the Split-Dalmatia County (75,000). Among foreigners, most overnight stays were realized by tourists from BiH, Slovenia, Germany, and Italy.
The destinations with the most overnight stays were Zagreb, Rovinj, Split, Zadar, and Opatija.
Domestic tourists travel around the country for weekends
Data from the eVisitor system show that in the first two months, domestic tourists realized more overnight stays during the weekend compared to the days of the week. Most of them (by days) were in Croatian destinations on Valentine's weekend, on 13 February. Out of the total of 20,000 tourists in the country on that day, there were 17,000 domestic tourists, which is the most in one day in the first two months.
During January and February this year, locals spent most nights in Zagreb, Rovinj, Opatija, Zadar, Tuhelj, Split, Poreč, and Plitvice Lakes.
More traffic possible only around Pentecost
"Although we are in a period of the year when realizing international tourist traffic is still difficult, the results achieved so far, and announcements from the market still give some optimism. We do not expect a large influx of guests during March and April. However, we expect some tourist traffic from domestic and nearest markets such as Slovenia, Italy or Austria, whose citizens, among other things, own real estate and vessels in Croatia," said CNTB director Kristjan Staničić. This year, Easter and the spring school holidays in Croatia are at the beginning of April.
From other markets, they expect a significant increase in tourist traffic in the main summer months. Also, they expect known and uniform protocols for international tourist travel by then.
Staničić also says that tourist facilities in Croatia will be ready to receive guests for the Easter holidays. However, tourist flows during these holidays and throughout April will still depend primarily on the epidemiological situation and current travel restrictions.
They expect a slightly higher intensity of tourist traffic for the holiday of Pentecost, which this year comes in the second half of May. Staničić also emphasizes that all relevant research shows that the whole of 2021 will be marked by last-minute bookings and that it is challenging to make long-term and accurate predictions.
"Safe stay in Croatia" campaigns for digital nomads as well
In these circumstances, it is important to remain visible in the market and communicate safety, adequate destination preparation, and epidemiological measures. That is why the "Stay safe in Croatia" campaign is underway in ten key markets – Germany, Austria, Italy, Poland, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, France, and the Netherlands.
To position Croatia as an attractive destination for digital nomads, the CNTB will soon launch a separate promotional campaign in the markets of the USA, Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland. After that, they will launch the main ones, the so-called call campaigns, depending on each market's epidemiological situation.
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Croatia Records Half as Many Tourist Overnight Stays in 2020 Compared to 2019
January 7, 2021 – In a year when world tourism was dealing with the consequences of travel bans caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Croatia saw 50 percent fewer tourist overnight stays compared to the record 2019 tourist year.
According to the eVisitor system data, in 2020, there were 7.8 million arrivals in Croatia, which is 37 percent of the results from 2019, and 54.4 million overnight stays, namely 50 percent of the results from 2019.
Of that, foreign tourists realized 43.1 million overnight stays (45 percent of the results from 2019), while domestic guests realized 11.3 million overnight stays (82 percent of the results from 2019), reports Croatian National Tourist Board.
Focus is on safety, preparation, and quality
Despite the pandemic and challenges, Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac emphasizes her satisfaction with the results achieved in 2020. The figures of 54 million overnight stays, she says, prove that the tourism sector has quickly and efficiently adapted to the new circumstances.
"Due to good epidemiological conditions, Croatia was recognized as a safe destination. We must continue to work on that in 2021 to extend the peak part of the tourist year and ensure the tourism sector's resilience. We need a further increase in quality, the development of new value-added tourism products, and the responsible and sustainable management of tourist destinations and infrastructure," said Brnjac.
With 1.8 million tourist overnight stays, Rovinj takes second place on the tourist map of Croatia / Copyright Romulić and Stojčić
She adds that this year, with the vaccine and adherence to epidemiological measures, but also with the previous experience, we can expect the desired tourist achievements.
Croatian National Tourist Board Director Kristjan Staničić pointed out that Croatia has achieved one of the best tourist results in the Mediterranean despite all obstacles.
"An important period is ahead of us in which we will carry out activities to position Croatia as a safe, well-prepared, and quality tourist destination," said Staničić.
Istria and Vir – last year's tourist winners
During 2020, the highest number of overnight stays was realized in Istria – 13.5 million, and in Kvarner – 11 million overnight stays, while in Zadar County, 9.8 million overnight stays were realized. They are followed by Split-Dalmatia County, Šibenik-Knin County, Dubrovnik-Neretva County, and Lika-Senj County.
The City of Zagreb recorded 807 thousand overnight stays in 2020, while 1.1 million overnight stays were realized on the continent last year. The most overnight stays on the continent were realized in Karlovac, Krapina-Zagorje, and Osijek-Baranja Counties.
Last year, Croatia was mostly visited by tourists from Germany, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria. Most overnight stays were recorded in households – 22.3 million overnight stays, camps – 8.8 million overnight stays, and hotels – 7 million overnight stays.
Photo: Vir Municipality
From January to October alone, Vir was the only destination with more than 2 million overnight stays. Even then, it was clear that Vir would take the lead with the most tourist overnight stays in 2020. Rovinj followed it with 1.8 million overnight stays, then Medulin, Poreč, Mali Lošinj, and Crikvenica.
Zagreb – most visited during the holidays
During the Christmas and New Year holidays, there were 33,924 arrivals and more than 140,000 tourist overnight stays in Croatia. Compared to 2019, that is only 17 percent of arrivals and 26 percent of overnight stays.
Most overnight stays were realized in household facilities and hotels. Domestic tourists accounted for 64 percent of total overnight stays in that period, followed by tourists from Germany, the United States, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia. Most overnight stays were realized in Zagreb, followed by Rovinj, Split, Opatija, and Poreč.
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October 2020 Sees Only 20% of Overnight Stays in October 2019
ZAGREB, Dec 13, 2020 - The number of tourists staying in commercial accommodation in October this year was at 17% of the figures for October 2019 while overnight stays were at 20% of last year's figures for that month, which makes October one of the months with the poorest results in 2020, marked by the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures from the national statistical office show that 184,500 tourists stayed in commercial accommodation facilities in October this year, generating 618,000 overnight stays, down 82.8% and 79.9% respectively from October 2019.
Greater decline rates were recorded in April and May (97% and 99% respectively) and a more marked drop was also reported in March (a 70% decrease in overnight stays).
The statistics also show that foreign visitors accounted for most or 406,800 overnight stays, a drop of 85% compared to October 2019. The number of foreign visitors dropped even more, by 90% from October 2019, to 88,800.
Figures for domestic tourists dropped less, by 47.3% to 95,800 visitors, and they generated 211,000 overnight stays in commercial accommodation units, a drop of 45.4%.
As for foreign guests, Germans were again the most loyal visitors, with 131,000 overnight stays or 32.2% of all foreign overnight stays.
They were followed, but with much lower shares in the total number of overnight stays, of 8% and less, by visitors from the United States, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, France, the Czech Republic and Italy. They, too, came in smaller numbers and generated fewer overnight stays than in October 2019.
Istria County recorded the most overnight stays, 156,000, accounting for 25.3% of total overnight stays in October.
Physical indicators for October have also affected results in commercial accommodation in the first ten months of the year, which saw 6.9 million tourists and 40.3 million overnight stays, which are decreases of 63.6% and 55% respectively compared to the same period of 2019.
According to type of accommodation, rooms, apartments and holiday houses accounted for slightly less than a half of all overnight stays, or 277,000, a drop of 68.4% from last year's October.
Hotels saw a bigger drop, of 87.4%, reporting 220,000 overnight stays.
Croatia Reports 54% Fall in Tourist Nights in Jan-Sept 2020
ZAGREB, November 15, 2020 - In the first nine months of this year, 6.6 million tourists stayed in commercial accommodation in Croatia, spending 39.7 million nights, which are decreases of 63.4% and 54% respectively compared with the same period of last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS) shows.
Foreign tourists accounted for 82% of all tourist arrivals in the first three quarters of the year. A total of 5.4 million of them stayed in commercial accommodation, down by 66.1% compared with the same period of 2019, and spent 34.7 million nights, a decline of nearly 57%.
During the same period, Croatian tourists generated 1.3 million arrivals and 5 million overnight stays, which are decreases of 28.7% and 19.4% respectively compared with the first three quarters of 2019.
German tourists accounted for 33.3% of total foreign overnight stays, ahead of Slovenes (13.5%), Poles (12.4%), Czechs (9.2%) and Austrians (6%).
Statistics for September alone show that 488,200 tourists stayed in commercial accommodation, down by 77.5% compared with the same month in 2019. They spent 3.1 million nights, a drop of nearly 70%.
Croatian tourists generated 133,300 arrivals, a decrease of 24.1% compared with September 2019, and 409,300 overnight stays, down by 19%. On the other hand, the number of foreign tourist arrivals was 354,800, a decline of 82,2%, and the number of nights spent by foreign tourists fell by 72.5% to 2.7 million.
Commercial Accommodation in August Had Fewer Beds, Non-Commercial 10% More
ZAGREB, September 21, 2020 - In August 2020, there were over 1.75 million beds in tourist accommodation, including 1.2 million in commercial and 555,000 in non-commercial accommodation, down 0.7% and up 10% on the year respectively, according to eVisitor.
Commercial accommodation accounted for 79.4% of all overnights (16.7 million), down 40% from August 2019.
Private accommodation, with 615,500 beds, accounted for 51.6% of all commercial beds, although it had 14,000 fewer beds than in August 2019. This type of accommodation accounted for 46% of all overnights (9.6 million), down 31.2% on the year.
Campsites accounted for 15.3% of all August overnights (3.2 million), down 47.6% on the year, although they offered 3,000 more beds, 255,200 in all, accounting for 21.4% of all beds.
Hotels had 176,500 beds, 1,100 more than in August 2019, accounting for 15% of all commercial beds and for 12% of all overnights, i.e. 2.5 million, down 51% on the year.
Accommodation on family farms had 2,600 beds, 182 more than in August 2019, and recorded 26,000 overnights, down 15% year on year.
Other commercial accommodation had 132,400 beds, 2,450 more than in August 2019, and recorded 1.3 million overnights, down 41.5% on the year.
Nautical tourism recorded 586,000 overnights in August 2020, down 25.1% on the year.
Non-commercial accommodation recorded 3.7 million overnights, down 16.5% on the year, accounting for 17.7% of all August 2020 overnights.
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Zadar Records More Arrivals But Less Overnight Stays
The peak tourist season is fast approaching.
Medulin Continues to Rapidly Improve Standard of Living
While the top Croatian municipalities by the number of overnight stays are Zadar, Split, Lošinj, and Opatija, Medulin continues to improve the quality of life for its residents.
August Statistics: 137% More Overnights in Imotski
Great news from the Imotski tourist board!! After an amazing July, new records were made for August as well.
According to the Imotski tourist board FB page, there were 1.164 tourist with 7.117 overnights in August in the Imotski area. That is 137% more than last year (2.998 overnights). Most guests were from Germany, then Poland, Croatia, France and Great Britain.
With the total number of 15.065 overnights from the beginning of the year (comparing to 7.416 overnights last year), it is clear, that Imotski sets new trends in terms of overnights achievements.
Wow, 137%!! Great, we are very curious to get the numbers for September and the whole year. Keep going, Imotski!!
(photo: Imotski tourist board FB page)
Statistics for July: 115% More Overnights in Imotski
The numbers for July are out and Imotski has set new records as it has more then doubled the number of overnights in July (from 2258 in 2014 to 4852 in 2015). Most overnights were from guests from Germany (1104), then followed by guests from Croatia (747), Great Britain (443), Netherlands (424), Belgium (352) and Norway (252). The total number for the first 7 months in Imotski is at 7948 overnights, which is 80% more than in the same period last year.
According to the director of the Imotski tourist board Luka Kolovrat there are almost no available beds currently in Imotski as everything is full and the expectations for August are even higher than for July in terms of setting new records for overnights. Congratulations to Imotski and Luka! May you continue this very positive trend.
