January 3, 2022 - Last year was a great one for Croatian tourism: there were 13.8 million arrivals and 84.1 million overnight stays in Croatia, that is 77 percent more arrivals and 55 percent more overnight stays than in the same period in 2020.
At the same time, foreign tourists realized 71.9 million overnight stays, while domestic tourists realized 12.3 million overnight stays, reports HrTurizam.hr. These are the first data from the eVisitor system, which contains tourist traffic generated in commercial and non-commercial facilities and nautical charter.
Most tourist overnight stays were realized in Istria (23.5 million), Split-Dalmatia (15.5 million), and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (15.3 million). It is followed by Zadar County (12.7 million overnight stays), Šibenik-Knin County (5.9 million), and Dubrovnik-Neretva County (5.4 million).
The destinations that attracted the most visitors were Zagreb (638,000 arrivals), Rovinj (549,000), Dubrovnik (543,000), Split (529,000) and Poreč (431,000 arrivals).
According to the type of accommodation, most overnight stays were realized in households (32.1 million), camps (17.4 million), and hotels (15.7 million). In the nautical, the charter segment of nautical, 3.1 million overnight stays were realized. Compared to 2020, the highest growth in traffic was achieved in hotels (+124 percent), camps (+92 percent), nautical (+87 percent), and household facilities (+45 percent).
In the end, the comparison with the 2019 results speaks best of how successful we have been. Thus, in 2021, 67 percent of arrivals and 77 percent of overnight stays from 2019 were realized.
In terms of markets, in 2021 most arrivals were made by Germans (2.9 million, 84 percent growth compared to 2020), domestic tourists (2.3 million, growth of 41 percent compared to 2020), Slovenes (1.2 million, an increase of 18 percent compared to 2020), Austrians (1.1 million, an increase of 180 percent compared to 2020), Poles (1 million, an increase of 50 percent compared to 2020) and the Czech Republic (775,000, up 50 percent from 2020).
Also, compared to 2020, there were 78 percent more Italians, 100 percent more Hungarians, 168 percent more French, and as many as 324 percent more Dutch. Let us add that, compared to 2019, Poles achieved 8 percent more overnight stays, Germans equaled overnight stays from a record 2019, Czechs achieved 97 percent of overnight stays, while Slovenes and Austrians achieved about 82 percent of 2019 overnight stays.
"Congratulations to all tourism stakeholders on a great tourist year. During 2021, Croatian tourism built the image of a safe and responsible destination, which was recognized by our tourists. In addition to the importance of safety, modern tourists, especially in this pandemic era, are increasingly recognizing the importance of the sustainability of the destination, which is becoming an additional motivation for them to travel. In order to further highlight the new strategic direction of Croatian tourism, the Ministry is launching a comprehensive web portal for sustainable tourism in Croatian and English, which will provide information on important documents, funding sources, projects, sustainable practices, and eco-certification, as well as training, seminars, conferences, and events and stakeholder actions in the field of sustainable tourism. We will also have a publicly available display of Sustainable Tourism Indicators on the platform", Said the Minister of Tourism and Sport Nikolina Brnjac and added that in the framework of this project created and mark the sustainability of Croatian tourism, Croatia your natural or Croatia Naturally Yours, which will be recognizable to tourists, as well as stakeholders in the sector.
"Behind us is the second pandemic year in which Croatia, despite all the challenges, achieved the best tourist result in the Mediterranean. This is a consequence of the dedicated and quality work of all tourism workers who, through their togetherness, quick reactions, and coordinated action, have ensured the status of a quality, safe and well-prepared destination for our country. We are entering this year with great optimism, but also with plans that include the realization of 90 percent of traffic from the record 2019 and further positioning of our country as a sustainable and safe destination. We plan to realize this through the implementation of targeted and innovative marketing and information campaigns, which will be carried out throughout the year, taking into account the epidemiological situation in each market," said the Director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić, emphasizing that good trends in tourist traffic are confirmed by financial indicators, such as revenues from tourism.
Let us remind you that in terms of tourist revenue, Croatia achieved the best summer so far.
According to the Croatian National Bank, in the first nine months of 2021, revenues from foreign tourists amounted to 8 billion and 268 million euros, which is a growth of 90% compared to the same period in 2020, with revenues of 3 billion and 929 million euros more. Compared to the first nine months of 2019, 88% of the revenues at that time were generated.
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