August 9, 2022 – Croatian tourism is booming although the prices have gone up in every aspect. More on that here. How do Croatian citizens stand, though, and what is it like for them?

As SiB reports, of the 11 and a half million tourists who visited Croatia this year, 1.6 million arrivals were domestic guests, which is 8 percent more than in the record year of 2019.

Nevertheless, the data of the exclusive research on holidays of Croatian citizens conducted for RTL by the agency Promocija plus (on a sample of 1300 respondents) show a slightly different picture of Croatia.

While the whole world is flocking to Croatia, Croats are not able to go and enjoy a holiday in their own country.

Namely, almost 60 percent (59.5 percent) of Croatian citizens have not been, nor do they plan to go on holiday outside their place of residence.

37 and a half percent (37.4 percent) have been or are planning to go, while almost 3 percent (2.7 percent) are not yet sure.

When we look at the region from which citizens travel the least, Dalmatia leads, understandably (67.3 percent), as it is a tourist destination itself.

However, almost the same percentage of Slavonian people will not go on holiday anywhere – as many as 67 percent answered that they had not been, nor do they plan to go. Northern Croatia is at around 62 percent (62.3 percent), while the least number of those who do not go anywhere are in Zagreb and its surroundings (41.6 percent).

Citizens certainly did use their annual holidays, so the survey looked at where they spent them: the results coincide with those who did not travel, so 62 percent (62.1 percent) of those surveyed spent their holidays at home. About 15 percent (14.8 percent) went to the seaside and stayed in a hotel, apartment, or camp; 8.5 percent stayed in their own property at the seaside, 6 percent stayed with friends and relatives (6.1 percent), while 4 percent (4.2 percent) travelled outside Croatia.

Now for the most important thing for many: how much did people spend on vacation? Most (13.1 percent) spent two to three thousand kuna on summer treats. About 10 percent (10.5 percent) spent up to four thousand.

Up to ten percent of those surveyed (10.3 percent) spent up to five thousand kuna.

When it comes to larger figures, five percent of domestic tourists spent up to ten thousand.

The fact that many did not care about it or did not want to even remember how much they spent shows that they properly enjoyed their summer holidays. Maybe that's the best way to be stress-free at least a little until the bills come due in the autumn.

NOTE: The survey was conducted for RTL by the agency Promocija plus from August 1 to 4 on a sample of 1,300 respondents. The standard error of the sample is +/-2.77 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

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

ZAGREB, 16 March 2022- Ever since the war in Ukraine started, Croatian citizens have been spending HRK 160 million more a week than prior to the war, the Večernji List daily reported on Wednesday.

Last week's fiscalised retail turnover was about HRK 2.7 billion as against HRK 2.54 billion a week in the weeks prior to the war. That is a jump of 6% on the week and such a sudden increase occurs only for public holidays or in extraordinary situations. The war that has shocked all of Europe is certainly one of those situations and it has aroused fear of shortages, which is why citizens have started stockpiling, doing so also in an attempt to avoid unwanted price hikes.

A consultant on agriculture and the food industry, Zvjezdana Blažić, says that the increased turnover is undoubtedly due to stockpiling but also due to consumers trying to avoid price hikes caused by disruptions on the domestic and foreign markets.

The prices of yearling beef has increased between 20% to 27% on the year while the price of beef has increased by 12.5%, that of lamb by 12% and of pork by about 10%. The price of poultry has increased by 8.5% to 30% while vegetable prices have increased by 20%, Blažić explained.

She underscored that it's difficult to keep tabs on prices as they are changing each week so the effect of the reduced VAT on some products is not quite clear, with some retailers having reduced VAT even before the set deadline of 1 April.

"Each EU member wants to increase its strategic stockpiles and retailers are probably increasing their orders, and speculation plays a big role in that. I don't see that the rush for goods is that noticeable for the time being as it was in the first ten days or so of the pandemic and lockdown. I haven't seen people overloading their shopping trolleys and we are yet to see what will happen in a week or two, nobody knows," the head of the Croatiastočar organisation representing livestock producers, Branko Bobetić, said.

Given that Croatia is not self-sufficient for any category of meat, further disruptions in supply chains will cause a further increase in prices of meat, and prices of fish have been going up as well, the Večernji List said.

Business: For more, check out our business section.

As Novac writes on the 27th of March, 2019, tourists staying in both hotels and private accommodation in Dubrovnik are on average 42 years of age, of a higher level of education and possess decent paying power. They typically spend 170 euros per day on average, which is 90 euros more than the average stands in seven other coastal Croatian counties, according to a survey taken by TOMAS Dubrovnik 2018.

This research was conducted by Zrinka Marušić from the Institute for Tourism, for the needs of the City of Dubrovnik, only for Dubrovnik, conducted on a sample of 1,600 respondents.

"Dubrovnik attracts a specific sort of guest, due to broadcasting markets that aren't specific to the rest of Croatia. According to the motives of the visits, we can no longer speak of a [typical] holiday destination," Marušić said.

Namely, while visiting Croatia's southernmost city, guests are mostly attracted to new experiences, gastronomy and cultural sights, as well as swimming, local portal Dubrovački vjesnik writes.

According to the survey's data, the average daily spending of stationary guests staying in Dubrovnik is 170 euros, of which about half or 87 euros refers to accommodation, food and drink outside the accommodation facility accounts for 43 euros, culture and entertainment accounts for 14 euros, purchases account for 11 euros, etc.

The biggest spenders are from non European, more distant countries, topped quite unsurprisingly by the Americans, followed by tourists from Australia and from various Asian countries. Two thirds of Dubrovnik's stationary guests arrive in Dubrovnik with their partner, and 86 percent of them who visit the city are doing so for the very first time.

Research has shown that Croatia's long-standing tourism Mecca is a distinct airport destination as more than 85 percent of the respondents arrived by air. As many as 70 percent of the southern Dalmatian city's guests stay from four to seven days.

The city's visitors are most pleased with the beauty of the city, the levels of safety and security, the hospitality, and the typically high quality of the provided accommodation. They are least satisfied, however, with local transportation, shopping opportunities and the intolerable crowding and traffic in public places and on the city's numerous beaches.

The survey also included visitors who arrived in Dubrovnik on a cruise ship and shows that they are on average 49 years old and spend on average 51 euros per day. The most extravagant among them are once again Americans, and the most frugal are our neighbours from across the Adriatic, the Italians.

As many as 92 percent of the tourists asked were visiting Dubrovnik for the very first time, discouragingly, they are mostly ''one-day visitors'' and remain in Dubrovnik for a mere five and a half hours. Most often, they visit sights and eat at restaurants, and these guests are by far the least satisfied with the shopping opportunities and the total lack of organisation of the traffic and the huge crowds.

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