April has been busier than expected for Croatia...
According to the data system eVisitor which records tourism growth in commercial and non-commercial facilities and nautical charter, the Easter holiday (April 14 to 17, 2017) saw 117,288 arrivals and 399,921 overnight stays in Croatia. Compared with this time last year, there has been a 68 percent increase in arrivals and a 94 percent increase in overnight stays, reports HRTurizam on April 18, 2017.
"Results for the first half of April are excellent and we believe they will continue throughout the rest of the month. These figures are a true indicator that Croatia has more to offer beyond the main part of the tourist year, and it is becoming even more recognizable as a year-round destination. Before the Easter holiday, we had growth rates in April of around 50 percent, which is an exceptional result especially if we take into account that April is the first month of the year that achieved over one million overnight stays. I believe that these good results will continue throughout the next two months before the summer season,” said tourism Minister Gari Cappelli.
Most overnights recorded in Istria and Dubrovnik
During this period, most of the overnight stays were achieved in the areas of Istria (134,000), Kvarner (70,000) and Dubrovnik-Neretva County (57,000). The areas that followed were Split-Dalmatia County (47,000), Zadar (23,000), the city of Zagreb (20,000), Šibenik-Knin County (14,000), and Lika (9,000). Continental Croatia saw the most overnight stays in Karlovac and Krapina-Zagorje County which recorded approximately 4,000.
When looking at destinations, most overnight stays were achieved in Dubrovnik (44,000), Poreč (28,000) and Rovinj (26,000). Most guests stayed in hotels (235,000), private accommodations (65,000, and camping (48,000).
During this period, most overnight stays were achieved by Germans (90,000), Italians (41,000), Austrians (41,000), French (16,000) and Slovenians (15,000), while domestic tourists accounted for 46,000 overnight stays.
