January 3, 2022 - 50,000 tourists in Croatia welcomed 2022, and some hotel facilities saw 5.5x more guests than last year!

According to the Croatian National Tourist Board, of the total number of guests currently staying in Croatia, 30 thousand are foreign visitors. Most tourists were recorded in Istria and Kvarner, followed by Split-Dalmatia, Dubrovnik-Neretva, and Zadar counties, Jutarnji List.

Twenty-seven thousand guests were registered in hotels, which is a significant increase compared to January 2021, when only five thousand stayed in hotels on the same day.

However, the figures show that we are still behind in data from the beginning of 2020 (before the pandemic) when about 60,000 tourists stayed in Croatia for the New Year holidays.

When it comes to specific tourist destinations, Zagreb, Opatija, Dubrovnik, Poreč, and Split benefited the most from New Year's celebrations. Domestic tourists, followed by Germans, Slovenes, and Austrians, were the most numerous in these destinations.

It is also commendable that this New Year's holiday was welcomed by more foreign than domestic tourists, while last year the situation was reversed: out of a total of 15 thousand guests, 11 thousand were domestic guests, which shows that foreign markets are still traveling more this winter than during 2021.

As the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board director Joško Stella told Jutarnji List, December 2021 was significantly better than last year but still less than the pre-pandemic results of 2019, and this was seen on New Year's Eve.

"We are satisfied, we had significantly more NYE receptions in the cities than last year, and there were more hotels, so logically there were more guests.

Most of the guests are from the German market, but we also had visitors from the United States and the United Kingdom, although we can't talk about large numbers," Stella said.

New Year's data inspire hope that in 2022 the recovery of the tourism sector could continue, for which the Croatian Tourist Board predicted that the year could end at 90 percent of the pre-pandemic 2019. Accordingly, the CNTB announced new and intensive promotional campaigns and actions in this regard. In addition, it was decided that the umbrella marketing agency would open a branch in Kyiv as the Ukrainian market brought excellent results in 2021. 

This is supported by the financial data for the first nine months of 2021, according to which revenues from foreign tourists amounted to 8 billion and 268 million euros, which is a 90 percent increase over the same period, i.e., the first nine months of 2020, which is one of the worst tourist years so far.

Revenue that year was about 4.4 billion euros, or 3 billion and 929 million euros less.

However, most interesting is that in the pandemic year, Croatia managed to make the best financial result recorded so far in the main season.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, in the third quarter, i.e., in July, August, and September, the income of foreign tourists amounted to 6 billion and 775 million euros, which is a 100 percent increase compared to the same period in 2020, or 3 billion and 386 million euros more.

Compared to the pre-pandemic 2019, the growth was two percent, i.e., 148 million euros more in revenue, in the circumstances of the not very successful vaccination process. Croatia still lags behind other European countries.

However, the data should be taken with a grain of salt because it is likely that many of our competing tourist countries that have recorded more significant declines in traffic than Croatia over the past two years will try to take advantage of the 2022 season.

Namely, Greece and Turkey could offer significantly lower prices to the market.

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ZAGREB, 24 July, 2021 - Split Airport is currently the busiest in Croatia and this weekend alone it will handle 180 planes with 32,000 passengers!

This weekend has seen the largest numbers of passengers and planes, an executive at the airport, Mate Melvan, told Hina on Saturday, adding that 140 of those 180 planes were regular flights and 40 were private planes.

"If the situation doesn't deteriorate, we could have more than 300,000 passengers in July," he said, adding that Split Airport could already say that the current tourist season was exceptionally good when compared with last year's, which had been the worst to date.

Jelena Ivulić of the Jadrolinija shipping company told Hina there were many tourists in the Split port as well, their number rising constantly since June. She said 56,000 passengers and over 13,000 vehicles were expected in the port this weekend.

"It's a real July weekend. We are in constant positive growth and if it stays so, it will be excellent," she said, calling for caution due to COVID so that Croatia was not declared a red zone like last summer.

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ZAGREB, 2 April, 2021 - More than 22,000 tourists are staying in Croatia ahead of Easter, including 17,000 foreigners, and although the number is expected to increase over the holidays, turnover is not expected to reach the pre-pandemic levels, National Tourist Board director Kristjan Staničić said on Friday.

"Considering all the circumstances, we don't expect for the coming Easter holidays the level of turnover from previous years and previous Easter holidays but, by adhering to all epidemiological measures and protocols, we expect tourism activities, with an emphasis on the domestic market," he told Hina.

Since the school spring break follows the Easter holidays, more domestic tourists are expected next week, alongside those from Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic, he said.

More than 130 hotels and 60 campsites are currently open and most tourists are staying in Istria County, the northern Adriatic Kvarner region and Split-Dalmatia County, Staničić said, calling on all citizens and tourists to behave responsibly.

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ZAGREB, November 20, 2020 - Member of Parliament Anton Kliman (HDZ) on Friday rejected criticism of tourism boards, saying that tourists do not come to Croatia accidently but as a result of an organised system headed by the Ministry of Tourism and the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), which promotes Croatia in the world.

Tourist boards promote our tourism in the world. Large tourism companies generate the most arrivals through tourist boards, the Croatian Democratic Union MP and former tourism minister said.

He underlined that the good work of some of the tourist boards enabled a good tourism season during the coronavirus.

"Abolishing tourist boards would mean chaos. Small providers on the demanding European or global market cannot compete on their own as no one will recognise them," Kliman said during a debate on amendments to the bill on membership fees in tourist boards.

The amendments foresee a 12% reduction of the membership fee to tourist boards as of 1 January 2021.

Opposition parties in the parliament believe the membership fee reduction is not sufficient and they harshly criticised the system of tourist boards and its membership fees, claiming this is a parallel system that serves as a meal ticket.

Bridge MPs were particularly critical and called for the fees to be abolished.

MP Davor Dretar (Homeland Movement) believes that membership fees to tourist boards should be abolished altogether.

MP Hrvoje Zekanovic (HRAST) claimed that there were thousands of people employed in tourist boards, which were their meal ticket, and they mostly serve as a voting machine.

"They spend tens of millions of kuna a year on official trips around Europe and the world to allegedly attract someone to Croatia but for the most part this money is used for living it up with good meals and drink at the expense of taxpayers," said Zekanovic.

That is a parallel system that the ministry has no control of, said MP Dalija Oreskovic (Centre).

MP Zeljko Lenart (HSS) believes that tourism boards' membership fees should be abolished and that another source of financing tourism boards should be found.

ZAGREB, Oct 21, 2020 - Lonjsko Polje Nature Park this year had about 50% more visitors than last year, which is a result of increased communication activities, but also of people turning to nature and spending time outdoors, the director of Lonjsko Polje Nature Park, Marija Kusmis, said.

"We have adapted quickly and systematically to the new circumstances and people have recognized that, and although we opened the Park two months later than usual this year, in May, we had twice as many individual visitors than last year, 5,300 of them," Kusmis said in a press release on Tuesday.

A new way of managing visits to the Park has been introduced, she says, and after kindergartens, schools, and groups of pensioners canceled their visits, communication was shifted to families with children, nature lovers, and all those who like an active lifestyle and nature.

"All employees and visitors have been adhering to the measures and recommendations by epidemiologists, and thanks to the nice weather in these autumn days, we believe that the number of visitors will grow further, especially in the 'Week of Vacation', when we reduced ticket prices by 50%," Kusmis said.

She said that they had increased their tourist offer and that they now managed the boat Juran and Sofija, which sailed along the Kupa River in Sisak, and boats and canoes in the eco-ethno village Strug were available, as well as professional guides.

Some of the attractions she mentioned also include visiting the village Krapje, where people and Lonjsko Polje coexist, bird-watching in the ornithological reserve Krapje Djol, and traditional cattle grazing in Repusnicko Polje field.

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ZAGREB, October 11, 2020 - Tourists vacationing in Croatia in 2019 spent a daily average of €98 per person and per overnight stay, with the amount being slightly higher in the continental part of the country, €115, and a little lower on the coast, €97, shows a survey conducted by the Institute of Tourism.

The survey, which has been conducted for 30 years and is one of the oldest in Europe, covered close to 14,000 respondents, domestic as well as foreign, coming from 24 markets, who stayed at least one night in hotels, hostels, at camping sites or in private accommodation facilities in 143 places across Croatia.

This is the first time the survey, conducted with the support of Tourism and Sports Ministry, also covered visitors to the continental part of Croatia. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was completed sooner than planned, in March instead of May.

In 2019, the record year for the Croatian tourism industry in terms of the number of arrivals and overnight stays, the average consumption of tourists vacationing on the coast was around 18% higher than in the summer of 2017 and they were slightly more satisfied with tourist services. As continental tourism was included in the survey for the first time, it was not possible to make a comparison of most of those data or overall indicators.

Accommodation costs account for 54% of daily consumption

In the period from May 2019 to March 2020, 54% of the overall average daily consumption were costs of accommodation and food, and only 17% were costs of food and drinks served outside accommodation facilities. All the other services accounted for 30% of the average daily consumption.

Even though average daily consumption in coastal destinations was €97 and in the continental part of the country €115 per person, the Institute of Tourism says that there are no significant differences in the structure of average daily expenses in the two regions.

Hotel guests spend the most on average, €142, followed by guests in family-run accommodation facilities, €88, guests in hostels, €78, and tourists staying at camping sites, €68.

Tourists spent a minimum €67 per day, as spent by visitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a maximum €206, which is how much Japanese tourists spent per day on average.

Other tourists who spent above-average amounts were those from the United States (€174), the Republic of Korea (€157), China and other Asian countries (€150), and Great Britain (€143), followed by tourists from Switzerland (€118), Scandinavian countries (€115), Spain and France (€107), Austria and Belgium (€102) and Serbia (€100).

Average visitor aged 43, half have monthly income of more than €3,000

The survey also shows that the average age of visitors is 43, that 55% of them are aged 30-49, and that 43% have a university degree while almost half have a monthly household income of more than €3,000.

The most frequently cited motives for visiting the Croatian Adriatic were sea and nature (81% and 56% respectively), city break (24%), touring (21%), sport and recreation (15%), culture and art (13%) and gastronomy, entertainment and festivals (7% and 6% respectively).

The most frequently cited reasons for visiting the continental part of Croatia were nature (32%), touring and city break (26%), sport and recreation (24%), business (22%), culture and art (16%), hiking and rural tourism (10%) and gastronomy and events (7% and 6% respectively).

More than 50% of foreign visitors had already visited Croatia three or more times, of whom 52% had already visited the Adriatic and 33% the continental part of the country; 33% of foreign visitors visited Croatia for the first time, of whom 32% visited the coast and as many as 53% visited the continental part of the country.

The Internet was the main source of information on destinations for 55% of the respondents, followed by recommendations by family members and friends. Most of the foreign visitors to the coast, 43%, arrived, as before, with their families, and 40% with their partners.

Interestingly, close to 40% of visitors to the continental part of the country arrived alone, 32% were with their partners, 16% with their friends, and only 14% with their families.

As for the means of transport they used to come to Croatia, 73% of those who stayed on the coast arrived by car, 19% arrived by plane and 6% by bus while around 50% of those who visited the continental part of the country arrived by car, close to 40% by plane and 9% by bus.

Visitors most satisfied with nature, atmosphere, hospitality

Visitors covered by the survey were satisfied the most with individual tourist services and natural and local attractions, as well as personal safety, atmosphere and the hospitality of local residents, and they were also very satisfied with the overall quality of their stay.

They also gave high marks for the cleanliness of the place they stayed in and of the beaches in the entire country, as well as for accommodation facilities, ecological preservation and transport accessibility as well as opportunities for destination exploration, walking, gastronomy, children-friendly conditions, and culture and art.

Nonetheless, they said they would prefer more entertainment, better conditions for persons with disabilities and more cycling routes in the continental part of the country. As regards the coast, they were least satisfied with local traffic, as well as with the lack of entertainment possibilities, the level of adaptation to persons with disabilities and insufficient shopping possibilities. Some also complained about crowding, garbage that has been inappropriately disposed of and the absence of waste sorting.

ZAGREB, Sept 11, 2020 - In the first eight months of this year, 6.8 million tourists visited Croatia and generated 47.5 million overnight stays, which was at 41% and 53% respectively of last year's levels.

YTD tourism results are better than expected following the outbreak of the coronavirus infection, according to a statement made by Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac and the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) director Kristijan Stanicic at a news conference in Zagreb on Friday.

Of those 47.5 million overnight stays, the lion's share, 84%, were made in July and August, and in those two months, Croatia registered 5.2 million holidaymakers.

Addressing the news conference, Minister Brnjac thanked the stakeholders and businesses in the tourism sector for those results.

"Clearly, nobody finds this situation easy, however, the sector has shown that it has been well prepared and we thank everyone for these results," she said.

The minister says that the government adopted the right measures in a timely fashion to help keep jobs and liquidity in this industry.

The gradual reopening of the borders paved the way for the arrival of tourists, and the results are better than expected in all types of tourist accommodation, she added.

"Nautical tourism is one of the segments that has fared well, and currently there are about 300 mega-yachts in Croatia. We hope that this good season will continue."

Government assistance schemes for the tourism and hospitality industry will be in effect until the end of this year to help the sector make good preparations for 2021, and the minister recalls that part of the money will be ensured from the European Union's funds.

She announced the preparation of a strategy for sustainable tourism with the engagement of experts in drawing up the document.

About 200,000 tourists currently vacationing

HTZ director Stanicic said that about 200,000 tourists were currently vacationing in Croatia.

He said that HTZ campaigns on social networks had registered hundreds of millions of visits.

Stanicic also commented on some negative campaigns on foreign markets that were unfavorable for Croatia.

We tried to respond to that "with certain positive and fact-based messages," he said.

When asked about the financial effects of the tourist turnover, Stanicic said that one should wait for the end of the year.

The director of the Croatian Association of Tourism (HUT), Veljko Ostojic, said that given the circumstances, the results in the sector were the best possible.

In hotels, overnight stays in the first eight months were at 30.4% of the levels in the corresponding period last year, Ostojic said, warning that the financial effects would be even lower.

Ostojic and the head of the Association of the Croatian Travel Agencies (UHPA), Tomislav Fain, agreed that the assistance provided by the government had been essential to keep the sector in motion.

The head of the association of marinas within the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Sean Lisjak, told the news conference that marinas were satisfied with this year's results.

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ZAGREB, Aug 26, 2020- There are now some 500,000 tourists in Croatia and if the epidemiological situation remains stable and everyone complies with recommendations, we can certainly expect another two months of tourism turnover this year, the National Tourist Board (HTZ) director, Kristjan Stanicic, said on Wednesday.

Stanicic met with representatives of Lika-Senj and Karlovac county tourist board representatives at Plitvice Lakes.

Lika-Senj county tourism board director Ivan Radosevic assesses that tourist trade in that county is very good compared to initial forecasts, saying that "August has brought an excellent 67% of last August's results, and year to date we have stood at 54% of last year's levels."

Currently, there are visitors in that county from Germany, Croatia, and Poland and the situation is similar in Karlovac County with the local tourist board's director Dina Begic saying that currently, the county is generating about 30% of last year's turnover.

They both underscored that this year the number of local guests has increased and account for 30% of tourism turnover.

Stanicic recalled measures from May until now which enabled tourism turnover, including a focus on marketing and information campaigns conducted on key European markets where the majority of holidaymakers come from.

Considering everything, Stanicic is exceptionally satisfied with the summer part of the tourism year and with that in August alone when 67% of last year's August turnover was achieved.

He announced a campaign for the shoulder season with emphasis on continental tourism, nautical and gastronomic tourism focusing on the closest markets.

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ZAGREB, Aug 24, 2020 - A total of 2.3 million tourists vacationed in Croatia in the period from 1 to 23 August, generating 17.6 million overnight stays, which is at 67% of the results in the same period of 2019, officials of the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ) said on Monday.

The latest statistics, which are based on information from the eVisitor system and which include tourist turnover in commercial and non-commercial accommodation as well as in boat rental, show that in the first 23 days of August there were 4.3 million overnight stays in Istria and 3.5 million in the region of Kvarner.

Split-Dalmatia County follows with 3.4 million overnight stays, followed by Zadar County with 3.2 million overnight stays, Sibenik-Knin County with 1.4 million, Dubrovnik-Neretva County with one million and Lika-Senj County with 636,000 overnight stays.

HTZ director Kristjan Stanicic said that the results for August were excellent and that the HTZ had very good announcements for September from the countries which had not put Croatia on a list of epidemiologically unsafe countries.

Between the start of this year and August 23, 6.5 million tourists vacationed in Croatia, generating more than 44 million overnight stays, which is 53% of tourism figures in the same period of 2019, the HTZ said.

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ZAGREB, Aug 24, 2020- Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said on Sunday that she was satisfied with this year's tourist season, with tourist turnover standing at 50% of last year's turnover, or 20% more than expected. 

"According to our projections as well as those of the World Tourism Organisation, we should have been at 30% of last year's result. But we are currently at 50% and realistically speaking, we can be satisfied with those figures," Brnjac told reporters in the Istrian town of Barban, where she attended a local equestrian tournament.

She noted that neighboring countries and other Mediterranean countries had seen a drop in tourist turnover of 70-80%.

Brnjac went on to say that all countries, including those that have put Croatia on the list of epidemiologically unsafe countries, followed the epidemiological situation, and revised their measures every two weeks.

"Epidemiological measures need to be maintained so that the good figures we have had until now could continue. But we must be aware of the fact that in March, April, May and the first half of June we did not have the kind of tourist season we had expected," Brnjac said, adding that she expected good tourism results to continue in September.

"We expect the season to continue, it is not over, but only if we have good epidemiological measures in place and good weather," she said, adding that the epidemiological situation in Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar counties was very good, which was why they were having good results.

Asked how one should prepare for 2021, which would not be an easy year, Brnjac said that it was of the utmost importance to preserve jobs and stability in the tourist sector.

"Tourism has always been a branch of economy where the situation changes quickly and which adapts to those changes quickly. Making sure Croatia is recognizable as a safe destination that takes care of its guests, along with the continuation of good results, is what gives us the impetus for next year," Brnjac said.

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