Croatia continues to be among the favourite destinations for German travellers.
Paula Bosch is the most famous German sommelier, and she recently took part in the presentation of Istrian wines in Munich. The effort to bring a star of the German wine scene to the presentation has paid off, and the Croatian wines have proved to be a pleasant surprise for the wine expert. She described the teranno wine from Istria as “a wine with personality and a beautiful aroma that remind of spices,” reports Večernji List on February 26, 2018.
“Due to splendid wines such as this, it is certainly worth visiting the Istrian peninsula. I believe I will soon see all of you there,” said the sommelier whose recommendations are followed by many German wine lovers. The article about the presentation was later published in a Munich daily with the circulation of 300,000 copies, and that was just a prelude to the Munich tourism fair, which was held last week, where Croatia was again successful in attracting German tourists.
Last year, more than 2.7 million Germans visited Croatia, and it is expected that this year, the number could grow by additional 150,000.
Partners of Croatian tourist companies represented at the fair said that the booking for Croatia is currently three to seven percent better than at this time last year. It was interesting to hear the experiences from the ADAC stand, where highway vignettes were sold. “Out of ten buyers of vignettes, which we sell for the Austrian highway system, nine said they would spend their summer vacation in Croatia,” said ADAC representatives.
Kristjan Staničić, the director of the Main Office of the Croatian National Tourist Board, confirmed that the initial booking for this summer season was excellent. However, he added there was still a lot of work ahead for Croatian tourist workers so that Croatia could have another superb season, despite the fact that Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia will return with full force to the tourism market in 2018.
For example, Turkey has entered the German market with promotional prices of just a thousand euro for a seven-day trip to a four-star, full-board hotel, for a four-member family. Croatia cannot compete with such prices, but Staničić does not think that the cheap deals could endanger Croatian tourism.
“Our advantages are diversity, indigenousness, security. We do not have large resorts; our guests are integrated into the life of the local population. We have nothing to worry about, provided we continue to invest in quality, sustainable development, expansion of hotel capacities and improving the guest experience,” concluded Staničić.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Radmila Kovačević).
