ZAGREB, November 6, 2018 - The promotion of Croatia as a holiday destination for next year formally began on Monday at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, one of the world's largest travel exhibitions, which will present about 5,000 exhibitors from 185 travel destinations until November 7.
Croatia is represented by the National Tourist Board (HTZ) and 23 co-exhibitors, and their activities are followed by Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli, who will take the opportunity to meet with the most important partners on the UK market.
On the first day of the fair, Cappelli met with executives of British low-cost airline Jet2 and German low-cost airline Eurowings. He is also scheduled to meet with representatives of companies such as Ryanair, TUI, Thomas Cook and Saga, with whom he will analyse the cooperation so far and discuss ways of improving it.
"The British market, along with the United States and China, is one of the fastest-growing and most important markets for us and we are working intensively on developing cooperation and introducing more flights," Cappelli said.
He said that a further 15 million kuna (2 million euro) would be invested in the existing flight programme to increase turnover outside the summer months, adding that the present programme had produced excellent results, increasing the number of flights and extending the flight schedule.
Nearly 850,000 British tourists visited Croatia in the first ten months of this year, generating 4.4 million overnight stays, an increase of 8 percent in both arrivals and overnight stays. British tourists mostly travelled to Dubrovnik (36 percent), Split (23 percent) and Istria (20 percent), and mostly stayed in hotels.
The British Institute of Travel and Tourism will hold an annual conference in Podstrana near Split in mid-June 2019. The event is expected to be attended by over 400 British delegates who will have an opportunity to visit Split, Trogir and Hvar.
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