May 22, 2020 - Although travel plans are currently on hold, data collected by Booking.com reveals that this has not stopped travel enthusiasts from daydreaming. A look at how travelers in Croatia plan to vacation after the corona crisis.
HRTurizam reports that after reviewing the millions of “Wish Lists” travelers have created on Booking.com over the past two months, with more than 100,000 different destinations recorded since early March, Booking.com has decided to share the top destinations and accommodation units travelers have been thinking about as they wait for when they can start traveling again.
Destinations such as Bali, Andalusia, London, Florida and Paris continue to inspire travel enthusiasts around the world, but due to the uncertain situation in the last two months, as many as 51% of travelers globally have chosen destinations within their country. At the same time, 33% of travelers expressed a desire to visit domestic destinations.
In 2020, as many as 48% of those wishing to visit destinations within Croatia is on the Wish List, which represents an increase compared to 2019, when 38% of domestic passengers said so.
Since the beginning of March, Zagreb, Split, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Opatija, Rijeka, Makarska, Rovinj and Osijek have been at the top of the wish list of domestic destinations from Croatia, which tells us that travelers are looking forward to visiting sunny cities on the coast and beaches, but also the hustle and bustle offered by the big cities in the interior after weeks spent in isolation. Travelers who have already visited these destinations recommend them for their history and beautiful old buildings, walks along rivers or the sea and friendly people.
When we talk about adventures abroad, travelers from Croatia mostly dream of big European cities of culture as well as destinations in neighboring countries. In that list, Istanbul (Turkey) was in the first place, then Budapest (Hungary), London (UK), Belgrade (Serbia) and Paris (France), and in the top destinations were Rome (Italy), Lisbon ) and Sarajevo (BiH).
Also on the Wish List of countries that travelers from Croatia would like to visit are Italy, Turkey, Spain, the United Kingdom and Serbia. Nevertheless, domestic destinations are still a favorite of travelers from Croatia on the Booking.com Wish List.
While dreaming of changing the environment and spending the night outside their home, travelers from Croatia most wanted to stay in apartments, hotels, guest houses, cottages, and resorts. As many as 41% of travelers from Croatia during the last two months have expressed a desire to stay in apartments, which is much more than the global average of 20%.
The three most desirable accommodation units in Croatia for travelers from Croatia are Apartments Lisinski in Zagreb, Madison Luxury Apartments in Zagreb and Plitvice Holiday Resort in Grabovac. The most desirable accommodation units outside Croatia for travelers from Croatia are Apartment East West (Belgrade, Serbia), Nusha Apartments (Belgrade, Serbia) and Alpin Panorama Hotel Hubertus (Trentino Alto Adige, Italy).
"These are challenging times where security is a top priority. At Booking.com, we know that in times like these, thinking about how we’re going to explore the world again has great power that brings us inspiration and a good mood. It’s amazing to see the range of different travel experiences our customers dream about during the period they’ve been waiting for the opportunity to pack up and hit the road again," Maja Vikario, regional manager, told Booking.com.
Interestingly, on the top 1000 global list of the most desirable destinations in the world, there are as many as nine regions from Croatia with Split-Dalmatia County at the top, after which Istria and the Dubrovnik-Neretva County are on the list.
To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.
