July 20, 2022 - The 2022 Croatian peak season is in full swing, with around 980,000 tourists currently in Croatia!

About 980,000 tourists are currently staying in Croatia - with 97 percent of the overnight stays achieved compared to the record July 2019. These latest data were presented by the director of the Croatian Tourist Board in Šibenik, where a coordination meeting was held with representatives of tourist boards from Šibenik-Knin County, reports HRT.

In addition to HTZ director Kristjan Staničić and 13 representatives of the tourist boards of cities and municipalities from the county, the coordination included Šibenik-Knin prefect Marko Jelić and Rudolf Štefan, a member of the HTZ tourism council, and the owner of Šibenik's Pelegrini, HTZ announced.

During the meeting, they spoke about the tourist offer and attractions in the county, where the representatives of the local tourist boards pointed out that they are delighted with the current season and the announcements for the postseason.

Thus, in Šibenik-Knin County, the most overnight stays were recorded in Vodice, Šibenik, and Rogoznica, while, for example, Betina surpassed the tourist result from the record in 2019.

They also believe that in July, they will reach the results from the record 2019 in Primošten. Knin is recording an increase in accommodation capacities such as family apartments. The same is the case with Skradin, especially in the segment of more luxurious holiday homes with a swimming pool. HTZ added that Tisno is celebrating 100 years of organized tourism next year, which, in cooperation with HTZ, will be used in advertising on broadcasting markets.

Staničić emphasized the importance of cooperation between the local tourist boards.

"In this way, you can achieve greater promotional visibility and recognition that tourists will be able to appreciate," he said.

He reported that around 980,000 tourists are currently staying in Croatia, while last year at this time, there were approximately 900,000.

"We are at 97 percent of overnight stays achieved in July 2019. Everyone's goal is the dispersion of tourists throughout the year and to achieve as much income from tourism as possible," Staničić said, adding that additional promotional activities are planned for the best post-season, especially in the markets of Slovenia, Hungary, and Germany.

Jelić pointed out that the season is significantly better this year than last.

"What is very important to our visitors and us is that they feel safe in the county, and I would especially like to praise the tourist facilities and numerous events in our destinations. I believe that if we continue like this, we could surpass the results from the record-breaking 2019," said Jelić.

HTZ reported that the topic of the meeting was to allocate funds from the United Tourist Boards Fund, the eVisitor system was discussed, and the current progress in the development of the Strategic Marketing and Operational Plan of Croatian Tourism until 2026 was presented, which will be a turning point in implementing future promotional activities in Croatian tourism.

They also discussed recent changes that will take place in Croatia with the introduction of the euro and the country's entry into the Schengen area, which is estimated to have a positive impact on future tourist flows and trends.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

ZAGREB, 2 June 2022 - In the first five months of this year, HRK 8.2 billion worth of receipts were fiscalised in tourism and hospitality, up by 155% on the same time last year and by 17% on 2019, the Tourism Ministry said on Thursday, citing Tax Administration data.

These results are an excellent indicator of the interest in Croatia, which is important for further stimulating year-round business, Minister Nikolina Brnjac said in a press release.

This year to date, we have recorded 10 million nights almost a month earlier than last year, she said, adding that the value of fiscalised receipts was HRK 1.2 billion higher than in the first five months of 2019.

According to the national tourist board, Croatia logged 2.9 million arrivals in the first five months of this year and nearly 10 million nights, up by 175% and 153% on the year, respectively. This was 77% of the arrivals and 88% of the nights logged in the first five months of the record year 2019.

The most numerous were domestic tourists, followed by Germans, Austrians, Slovenians and Britons.

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April 4, 2022 - In 2021, there were 466.2 thousand tourists in houses, apartments, and holiday homes or non-commercial accommodation in Croatia, 2.3 percent more than in 2020, while the number of overnight stays was 9.3 percent or 10.1 million less, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

Owners of non-commercial accommodation in Croatia pay a tourist tax as a lump sum and are obliged to register themselves and all persons who spend the night in the house or apartment (family members, relatives, friends) in the eVisitor tourist check-in and check-out system of the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB), from which the CBS takes data on non-commercial tourist traffic and continues to process them statistically.

Locals came less and spent the night in houses and holiday apartments

According to these data, out of the total turnover in non-commercial accommodation in 2021, almost 76 percent of arrivals and 56.4 percent of overnight stays refer to foreigners, who came to this type of accommodation 5 percent more than in 2020 (353.1 thousand) but realized 3 percent fewer overnight stays (5.7 million), reports Index.hr.

Croatian citizens also realized fewer overnight stays in non-commercial accommodation than in 2020, by 16 percent (4.4 million), and according to reports in eVisitor, 5 percent fewer came to that accommodation (113.1 thousand).

Last year, 37,000 Slovenians came to this type of accommodation, totaling 2.6 million overnight stays. According to that, they were by far the most numerous and the most overnight stays in houses and holiday apartments in Croatia among all tourists from other nations who were in that type of accommodation.

They were followed by Germans and tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina with 640 thousand and 634 thousand overnight stays, and among the first ten countries, whose tourists realized one hundred thousand and more overnight stays in that accommodation: the markets of Serbia, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Italy, and Slovakia.

Zadar County and Kvarner with the most non-commercial overnight stays

In the research on this traffic, CBS did not provide comparisons of traffic from these and other markets in non-commercial accommodation in Croatia from 2020, which is not stated for individual counties, but only data on arrivals and overnight stays for 2021. Zadar County, with 36 percent of all overnight stays in that type of accommodation, ranks in the first place.

The second is Primorje-Gorski Kotar with 26 percent of total overnight stays, while the third is Istria with 15 percent of total overnight stays in non-commercial accommodation.

They are followed by Šibenik-Knin County, where 8.2 percent of overnight stays in non-commercial accommodation were realized in holiday homes and apartments in 2021. Split-Dalmatia County follows with almost 7 percent of overnight stays, and Dubrovnik-Neretva County with 4.4 percent, while Lika-Senjska County with the lowest share of 4 percent in total overnight stays.

However, not all other counties in Croatia have that much, because the share of overnight stays in non-commercial accommodation was only 0.2 percent.

What the CBS does not yet state in this research is the number of houses, apartments, and holiday apartments (accommodation units, etc.) in which this non-commercial tourist traffic was recorded in 2021, and they note that the quality of research results is significantly affected by the discipline of check-in and check-out the stay of persons in non-commercial accommodation facilities and the work of inspection bodies that monitor this phenomenon.

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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.

For more, check out our dedicated travel section.

September 7, 2021 - The good tourism news keeps on coming, as tourists from 70 countries in Croatia this year made 2021 one we won't soon forget. 

In the first eight months of this year, more tourists came and stayed in Croatia than last year from more than 70 countries, with fewer arrivals and overnight stays from only five countries - Indonesia, Korea, China, Japan, and Kosovo, reports Index.hr.

This is shown by eVisitor and eCrew data from the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), according to which, as expected, Germans are traditionally far ahead of everyone, both in terms of arrivals and overnight stays.

2.1 million German tourists realized almost 16 million overnight stays or 23.3 percent of the total overnight stays in the first eight months of this year, which is 53 and 42 percent more than in the first eight months of 2020. However, compared to the same period in 2019, 2021 saw 200 thousand fewer German arrivals and about a million fewer overnight stays.

Behind German tourists are domestic tourists, with 1.7 million arrivals and 10.1 million overnight stays, which is an increase of 31.6 and almost 10 percent compared to the first eight months of 2020, while compared to the same period in 2019, there were about 100 thousand fewer arrivals and about a million fewer overnight stays. 

Of the ten markets with the highest number of overnight stays, only Austria and Slovakia had more than 100 percent more overnight stays than last year, i.e., Austrians at 4.8 million (+110 percent ) and Slovaks at 2.2 million overnight stays (+107.6 percent). They rank fourth and seventh in overnight stays among foreigners.

However, the largest increase (212.4 percent) was achieved by Dutch tourists with 1.8 million overnight stays in the first eight months of this year, which puts them in ninth place among foreign tourist overnight stays.

From other markets in the top ten, increases are slightly smaller. Poles are in third place among foreigners (or fourth overall, if domestic tourists are taken into account) with 5.7 million overnight stays or 43 percent more than in 2020.

Slovenians are in second place, just behind the Germans (or third if you count domestic overnight stays), with 7.9 million overnight stays or 3.4 percent more than in the first eight months of 2019. After Austria in fourth (among foreigners) is the Czech Republic with 4.5 million overnight stays or 44.5 percent more, and Hungary with 2.3 million overnight stays or 80.2 percent more.

Italy is in eighth place among foreign markets with 1.9 million overnight stays or 41 percent more (behind Slovakia in 7th). In tenth place, behind the Netherlands, is Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 1.6 million overnight stays or 80.5 percent more than in the first eight months of 2020.

Although neither Germans, domestic tourists, nor tourists from other markets have achieved the results of 2019 this year, many markets have seen a large increase in overnight stays, from some over 300 percent, and others 600 percent compared to 2020! In 24 markets, overnight stays have grown by more than one hundred percent.

The largest increase in overnight stays (679 percent) was realized by Kuwait with slightly more than 2780 overnight stays. Still, significantly more overnight stays, 663 thousand, and an increase of 301 percent were realized from the USA. Russia achieved an increase of 351 percent with 561.7 thousand overnight stays.

Oman recorded an increase of 275 percent compared to the first eight months of 2020, but with only 435 overnight stays, while the same increase was from Norway, but with a little more than 76 thousand overnight stays.

And from other Scandinavian countries - Sweden and Denmark - the growth of overnight stays was high, 128 and 129 percent compared to 2020, while Finland was the only one among all markets to have fewer tourist arrivals, by four percent but 42 percent more overnight stays.

Turkey is the only country where more tourists came (6 percent), who spent fewer nights than last year (15 percent).

An interesting fact among all markets is that, for example, from northern European countries this year there was also significantly more overnight stays in Croatia than last year - from Lithuania 101.5 thousand or 181.3 percent more, Latvia 48.7 thousand or 128 percent more, Estonia 45.1 thousand or 105 percent more, and Iceland 145.6 percent more with four thousand overnight stays.

The large increases in overnight stays from Mediterranean countries, i.e., Croatia's competitors, is also interesting. For example, tourists from France realized 1.1 million overnight stays in Croatia by the end of August this year (which puts them in 11th place among foreigners) or 126 percent more, and Spanish tourists 194.4 thousand or 166.3 percent more overnight stays than 2020.

Portuguese tourists achieved 111.2 percent more overnight stays or 51 thousand, and Maltese tourists 168 percent more with five thousand overnight stays.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

August 17, 2021 - French tourists in Croatia have recorded 230,000 arrivals this year, which is almost 150% more than last year!

In one of the most widely-read daily French newspapers, the prestigious Le Figaro, a report was published from a recent study trip organized by the Representation of the Croatian Tourist Board in France, in cooperation with Transavia airline and with the support of the Zadar County Tourist Board, revealed the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board in France, Daniela Mihalić Đurica, as reported by HRTurizam. 

In the article "Zadar et ses îles, bijoux méconnus de la Croatie" or "Zadar and its islands - unknown gems of Croatia," the famous French tourism specialists and journalist Ludovic Bischoff conveys his impressions of Zadar and the region and emphasizes the city's vibrant history, cultural diversity, and heritage that offers tourists many opportunities.

The text lists the best destinations to visit, suggests to readers where to stay, and in which restaurants to taste the recognizable gastronomic offer of Zadar County. Special emphasis was placed on the island of Pag and the tradition of salt production, Pag lace, but also the cultural and historical heritage of Nin and the richness of the Paklenica National Park.

"So far this year, Croatia has recorded more than 230,000 arrivals from the French market, which is almost 150% more than last year, i.e., we are talking about 52% of arrivals recorded compared to 2019. At the moment, there are about 27,000 French people in Croatia who especially prefer the Split-Dalmatia and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties and are increasingly discovering Istria. Their favorite destinations are Split and Dubrovnik, but also the island of Hvar, which currently exceeds the results from 2019 in terms of French tourist traffic by 30%. During this year's summer season, Croatia and France are connected by numerous airlines directed to the airports of Zagreb, Pula, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik. In addition, the French can fly to Croatia from Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Strasbourg, and Toulouse, offering more than 30 different scheduled, low-cost, and charter flights from Transavia, Volotea, Ryanair, Easyjet, Croatia Airlines, and Air France," said the director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić.

In the previous part of August, we recorded about 100,000 arrivals and 380,000 overnight stays of French tourists, which is 103% more arrivals than during the comparable period of 2020, i.e., 74% of arrivals recorded in the same period in 2019.

"In the opinion of popular French Vogue, Croatia is one of the favorite summer destinations of many world stars, while one of the most popular French tourist guides Petit Fute puts special emphasis on Istria, which French guests are increasingly discovering," added Mihalić Đurica.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

ZAGREB, 8 Aug, 2021 - There are 1,055,000 tourists vacationing in Croatia - 886,000 foreigners and 169,000 Croatians, the Tourism Ministry said on Sunday. 

Among the foreign tourists, the most numerous are Germans (257,000), followed by Slovenians (125,000), Poles (81,000) and Austrians (68,000).

The largest number of tourists are staying in Istra County (271,000), followed by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (180,000) and Split-Dalmatia County (170,000).

Croatia has registered 7.4 million arrivals and 44.5 million overnights this year to date, respectively 58% and 68% of the results logged during the same time in 2019.

In the first seven days of August, there were 981,000 arrivals and 7.4 million overnights, respectively 78% and 91% of the figures recorded in the first week of August 2019.

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July 29, 2021 - The latest report from the eVisitor system gives an impressive and hopeful number for Croatian tourism: one million tourists are currently in Croatia!

According to current data from the eVisitor system, there are currently more than 1 million and 6 thousand tourists in Croatia, of which 866,000 are foreign tourists and 140,000 domestic tourists, reports HrTurizam.

Most tourists currently stay in Istria (273,000), Split-Dalmatia (191,000), and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (187,000). It is followed by Zadar County (168,000) and Šibenik-Knin County (77,000) and Dubrovnik-Neretva County (62,000). Most tourists are currently in Rovinj, Vir, and Porec.

In terms of markets, the largest number of foreign tourists currently in Croatia come from Germany (203,000), Slovenia (140,000), Poland (86,000), Austria (75,000) and the Czech Republic (61,000).

"There are currently more than a million tourists in Croatia, which is 220,000 more than at the same time last year. These figures are the best confirmation that all previous activities and preparations of the tourism sector for this year were of high quality and that our guests recognized it. We are still in the period with the largest influx of tourists in the year and I call on everyone to remain responsible, adhere to epidemiological measures and recommendations, and thus protect ourselves and others, "said Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

Also, a new ECDC map is expected today, for which we all hope that the Adriatic will remain in orange. In the event that the Adriatic turns red, it will certainly immediately affect the reservations, but still, it should not be as drastic a situation as last year. The biggest problem will be if the states put the need for quarantine to return from Croatia, in case the Adriatic ends in the red.

For more on Croatian tourism and destinations that you might want to pay a visit to in the near future, make sure to follow our dedicated travel section.

June 23rd, 2021 - There were 330,000 tourists visiting Croatia from Friday, June 18 to Wednesday, June 23, 2021!

According to the eVisitor system, which contains tourist traffic generated in commercial and non-commercial facilities and nautical charter (eCrew system), during the penultimate, extended weekend in June, from Friday, June 18 to Wednesday, June 23, 202, 330,000 tourists have come to Croatia, and 1.6 million overnight stays were realized.

HRTurizam reports, Out of the total number of overnight stays, foreign tourists realized 1.2 million overnight stays, and domestic tourists 335,000 overnight stays. During the weekend, the largest number of tourists came to Croatia from Germany (46,000), followed by Slovenia (41,000), Austria (31,000), and Poland (24,000).

The average daily number of tourists over the past five days was 313,000, while in the same period last year it was lower by about 104,000. Most overnight stays were realized in Istria (475 thousand), Primorje-Gorski Kotar (322 thousand), Split-Dalmatia (258,000), Zadar (233,000), and Šibenik-Knin County (105,000). Looking at the destinations, most overnight stays during the past weekend were realized in Rovinj (85 thousand), Poreč (54 thousand), and Vir (47 thousand). According to the type of accommodation, most overnight stays were realized in household facilities, camps, and hotels.

"Demand for Croatia as a responsible tourist destination is constantly growing, which is why the daily number of tourists has increased by about 200,000 since the beginning of June, and 330,000 new tourists came to Croatia during this extended weekend alone. A good epidemiological situation remains crucial, and in the months ahead, we, therefore, call on all tourism workers, tourists, and all our fellow citizens to continue to adhere to epidemiological measures. Only in this way can we maintain the status of a safe destination and contribute to the best possible season because safe tourism is successful tourism", said the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

From the beginning of the year until today, there have been 2 million arrivals and 8.4 million tourist nights in Croatia, i.e., a growth of 57 percent in arrivals and 58 percent in overnight stays compared to the same period in 2020.

"With about 4.4 million overnight stays in June, we exceeded the tourist turnover in the same period last year by more than 80 percent, and most arrivals are recorded from the markets where we are currently conducting our main call campaign this year. Trust me, I've been there “. Current numbers of tourists in the country show that Croatia is once again one of the hits and safest destinations in the Mediterranean. We are facing the main summer months in which we expect even more intensive tourist traffic. I once again call on our citizens and tourist workers to behave responsibly and adhere to the prescribed measures because the favorable epidemiological situation in the country is a basic prerequisite for a successful tourist season. community Kristjan Staničić.

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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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