Croatia records 2% growth in tourist arrivals during the first eight months

According to the first incomplete data from the eVisitor system, Croatia recorded 17.2 million arrivals and 89.8 million overnights during the first eight months of this year, which represents a growth of +2 percent in arrivals and +0.5 percent in overnights compared to the same period last year. Of these totals, over 86 million overnights were recorded on the Adriatic coast, nearly 2 million overnights on the continent, while 1.8 million overnights were recorded in the city of Zagreb.

"Croatian tourism is recording record results both in terms of tourist traffic and consumption. We are satisfied with what has been achieved, although there is still room for improvement, especially in the context of further price stabilization, which remains a key factor for the rest of the year and in preparations for next year. We manage tourism according to the principles of sustainability, as defined by the strategic and legislative framework. With a package of laws encompassing tax, spatial, and tourism policies that came into force this year, we are creating a sustainable structure of accommodation capacities," stated Tonči Glavina, Minister of Tourism and Sport.

When segmenting Croatia's tourist results by counties, the highest number of overnights during the first eight months was recorded in Istria (25.2 million overnights, +0.3 percent), Split-Dalmatia County (16.9 million overnights, +0.6 percent), and Kvarner (15.2 million overnights, +0.1). These were followed by Zadar (13.2 million overnights, +0.2 percent), Dubrovnik-Neretva (7.2 million overnights, +1.5 percent), Šibenik-Knin (5.5 million overnights, on par with last year’s result), and Lika-Senj County (3 million overnights, +1.4 percent). Looking at destinations, the highest number of overnights during the first eight months was recorded in Rovinj, Dubrovnik, Poreč, Umag, and Split.

"During the main summer part of the tourist year, namely during July and August, we successfully maintained positive indicators for the cumulative period from January to the end of August, confirming that Croatia has a stable position in the international tourism market. Given the good announcements from partners and market feedback, we expect trends in the upcoming post-season to further strengthen the result for the entire year. We are particularly pleased with the contribution of the domestic market to the overall results, as well as the contribution of certain long-haul markets, especially the USA, from which we realized nearly 600,000 arrivals during the first eight months, marking the first time in history that Americans have entered our top 10 guests based on arrivals in this period of the year," stated Kristjan Staničić, Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board.

Looking at markets, the highest number of overnights in the first eight months was generated by tourists from Germany (17.2 million overnights), Croatia (11.2 million overnights), Slovenia (9.5 million overnights), and Austria (6.5 million overnights). Regarding overnights by accommodation type, the most overnights were realized in household facilities (33.9 million overnights), hotels (19.6 million overnights), and campsites (17.7 million overnights).

Observing the tourist results achieved during the main summer months of July and August, 9.6 million arrivals and over 60.4 million overnights were realized in Croatia during these months, representing a decrease of -0.5 percent in arrivals and -1.3 percent in overnights compared to the same period last year.

Source: CNTB

Photo: Aleksandar Gospić; Source: CNTB