Last year, the town of Rab recorded the two-millionth overnight stay 12 days earlier than expected. The last year's tourist season was a record-breaking one by the number of tourist arrivals and overnights. In the meantime, Rab has managed to extend the tourist season and brand its tourist attractions, such as the original and popular Rab Fjera festival. This event has now been joined by the Rab Island Advent Festival, which will this year be organized for the fourth year in the row, reports Večernji List on November 26, 2018.
The director of the Rab Town Tourist Board, Ivana Matušan, discussed the island’s tourism development.
The last year’s tourist season was a record-breaking one. Are you satisfied with this year’s results?
We are extremely pleased. In the first nine months, the town of Rab has recorded 1,436,298 overnight stays, while the one-millionth overnight stay in Rab occurred a day earlier than last year. The season was at the last year’s record levels, with 1% more overnight stays, but it is not over yet. I was extremely pleased with the pre-season. In the first five months, Rab achieved a growth of 43% in overnight stays. I believe that an interesting tourist December is ahead of us. For this Advent, we expect to have four hotels open, while last year we had just one, and I am sure that many private rental owners will open their properties for all tourists who want to experience a special island Advent.
How did the Rapska Fjera festival influence the branding of your destination?
Rapska Fjera is part of the town of Rab; it is inseparable from the town as a tourist destination, but also as the cultural center of the island itself. It has historical foundations on which the Rab history is based even today. There is no similar project in Croatia and the region, and I am very proud of the achieved level of quality, as well as of the award for the best tourism event in 2018, which we recently won at this year's Days of Croatian Tourism held on Hvar. With all of our projects, events and ideas, we strive to be unique, innovative and engaging. I believe there is still room for progress, but also that the efforts of all the stakeholders are visible to everybody.
How can you further improve the tourism offer?
We look forward to announced investments in hotel facilities, and the process of repositioning Rab as “the island of happiness" is underway. This is where I see room to further improve our tourism product. For example, in 2019, the town of Rab will carry the prestigious title of the European Island of Sports.
What about this year's Rab Island Advent?
The most beautiful island Advent festival will be even more interesting and larger than ever. We will expand to two town squares and two beautiful parks. The Rab Island Advent is slowly becoming a reason for the arrival of tourists to our destination during the winter months. This year will bring numerous entertainment programmes, ice skating and other programmes for children and somewhat older guests, right next to the sea. The festival will start on December 1.
For more on the island of Rab, click here.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Majda Mikulandra).
