August the 19th, 2022 - Croatian Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac has discussed upcoming changes that private renters renting out their properties to visiting tourists should be aware of as the Croatian tourism strategy looks at bumping up the hotel share in the bigger picture.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac recently spoke about the strategy of Croatian tourism, the current summer season and numbers for HRT. The share of hotels in accommodation in Croatia is still unsatisfactory, despite the fact that the most recent Croatian tourism strategy was to increase the share of hotels in total accommodation to 18% by the year 2020, but today the country still only has a share of only 13%, and the construction of apartments is continuing to heat up. How might we change that trend?

"Public invitations/calls have been completed, they will be announced soon, and investments in hotel accommodation are beginning. This will either take place through small family hotels, or through larger systems, we're looking at the green and digital transition. As such, by raising the quality and creating added value, we can change things, and this is how year-round tourism develops," said Minister Nikolina Brnjac for HRT.

What about the categorisation of family/private accommodation?

"This is also in our strategy, we have to distinguish between renting from the host and rentierism and this must be distinguished by economic policy. We'll make a new modernisation and categorisation of private accommodation with the aim of raising the quality itself,'' she explained. Brnjac added that the management of various Croatian destinations will show which ones are sustainable and in what way they're managing that, and many towns and cities are suffocating due to the large number of guests, which isn't something that can continue for much longer.

"We will need to draw a line, it's a tool that we will give to tourist boards, which will enable local and regional self-government units to decide what kind of tourism they want for their own respective towns and cities. It's very important for the country that we work to properly develop year-round tourism. Tourism in the continental part of the country away from the coastline should be further developed, for example through the health resort segment. Topusko is a good example of that,'' concluded Minister Nikolina Brnjac.

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As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of May, 2019, Croatia's private accommodation renters who advertise their premises on platforms such as Booking.com and Airbnb should make sure they are properly registered on the eVisitor system in order to avoid potentially serious consequences. A visit from an inspector could occur at any time.

Along with the beginning of the summer tourist season, the strengthening of the supervision of the properties rented out privately to tourists from landlords and owners, as well as other types of hospitality facilities, is on the cards. State inspectors will be out in full force this season, and they will, among carrying out numerous other tasks, "comb" through potential unregistered listings and punish Croatia's many illegal renters.

This ''action'' will be assisted by the central eVisitor information system that applies to all categorised facilities, and uncategorised apartments and houses will also be searched out on booking and reservation platforms such as Booking.com and Airbnb, as has been confirmed by the state inspectorate.

There are numerous types of categorisation in place for private accommodation, and each and every facility that rents its space to tourists must be correctly registered on Croatia's eVisitor system in order for those guests to be registered with the police and/or tourist office upon their arrival (although this is something many choose not to adhere to, and which, in all honesty, isn't enforced well), and more importantly, for the host to be able to pay the correct taxes. In addition, a tax number must be highlighted for such tourist services carried out within the European Union.

A total of 136 jobs have been systemised ready for these types of inspection during the tourist season, and, together with the employees of the Customs Administration of the Croatian Ministry of Finance, a total of 97 jobs for tourist inspectors to carry out the work have now been filled.

At the moment, 52 inspectors are working to cover Croatia's coast, where the majority of illegal renting takes place, through offices in Rijeka and Split, as well as sixteen other associated offices. In addition to that, during the very height of the tourist season, inspectors from Croatia's continental counties will also be there to help out their coastal colleages. They all have access to the eVisitor system, which will help them to detect illegal renters.

The mechanism for locating Croatia's illegal renters is very simple, if the accommodation advertised on online platforms such as those listed above is not registered on eVisitor, this acts as a sign to inspectors that they can take the appropriate action. It has since been found out from private renters that nobody is asking for categorisation certification on those platforms anymore.

Booking.com and Expedia were asking for categorisation certification until the powerful Airbnb entered the Croatian market just a few years ago. Anamarija Cicarelli, head of the Split family accommodation advice centre, says most rental platforms have lost their legitimacy because they simply go off trusting the advertiser without any actual evidence.

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Click here for the original article by Marija Crnjak for Poslovni Dnevnik