September 8, 2020 - The Istria County Tourist Board director Denis Ivosevic said that there are mostly German tourists in Istria, and revealed what needs to happen to save the season.
Glas Istre reports that sixty-seven thousand guests stayed in Istria during the first weekend of September, most of them Germans - 40 thousand of them - which, according to the director of the Istrian Tourist Board, Denis Ivosevic, is quite expected considering that Germany is the only country in the region that did not put Istria on the red list of epidemiologically uncertain areas.
The Istrian police said that from Friday to Sunday at 12 pm, 33,536 passengers entered, and 35,678 passengers exited Croatia through the three largest road border crossings in Istria - Kaštela, Plovanija, and Požana. Foreign citizens account for 80 percent, and among them, Ivosevic confirms, most are Germans.
There are guests from other countries, which, under normal circumstances, represent a larger part of tourist traffic, such as Austria and Slovenia, but much less, says Ivosevic. Altogether, last weekend, he reveals, there were one hundred thousand fewer guests than at the same time last year. As before, due to epidemiological recommendations, tourists mostly opted for overnight stays in camps and private accommodation.
"The main part of the season is over. Now we are left with the hope that Slovenia could regionally select us as a safe area. That way, we would save the coming weekends," says Ivosevic about saving September and what's left of the tourist season.
Asked if the Istria County Tourism Commission, an expert and advisory body established in April to help coordinate activities to save the tourist season, has a plan and program for the postseason, Ivosevic said that the Commission acted when the repertoire was a different topic. Now, he says, the situation is a completely new story.
The main part of the season, the peak in August, is over. Ivosevic confirmed that they recorded more than good results.
"I look at the results of August from two different aspects. The first is the positive one, and that is that despite all the predictions about the weak season, we still managed to achieve more than a good result. Tourism peaked in the first half of August, and that’s great. Unfortunately, this is followed by the second, negative aspect. It refers to the fact that we managed to score an own goal and miss the opportunity to become true champions of this year's tourism by the end of August and September," says Ivosevic and continues:
"Instead, we ended up on the red list in many countries, which is very bad for the reputation and the end of the year, and can be a serious handicap in promoting the destination for next season," said the director of the regional tourist board after August.
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