As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, typically speaking, most Croatian tourists continue to choose this country’s coastline as their first holiday choice, and most of the reservations come from the continental part of Croatia, with only a very small percentage choosing to head abroad to countries such as Greece, Turkey and Tunisia.
This was shown by the statistics of the Arriva travel travel agency. On average, Croatian tourists, let’s say a family of four, spends about 9,400 kuna on accommodation, they stay a maximum of seven nights, they usually pay by card in installments and mostly travel by car, and 20 percent go by organised bus transport. Arriva travel notes that one of the trends that emerged as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic is that when booking a holiday, clients want to complete the entire process from inquiry to payment electronically, which wasn’t the case before the novel coronavirus took over the world back in 2020.
“Before the coronavirus pandemic, Croatian tourists typically insisted on personal contact with us, while today communication by phone or e-mail is sufficient for them. Likewise, when arranging vacations in other parts of Croatia, the new trend is that clients more often arrange travel cancellation policies, which wasn’t the case before the pandemic either,” pointed out Tamara Cerneka, the director of Arriva travel, noting that tourists are no longer looking for more isolated, out-of-the-way places like they had been during the previous two years.
The difference compared to 2020 and 2021 can also be found in the demand for air tickets to other European destinations. The increase in purchased tickets for European metropolises in comparison to back in 2019 is as much as 80 percent higher, which Arriva travel justifies with the increased desire of travellers to compensate for everything that they couldn’t go and everywhere they couldn’t visit over the previous two years. Cruise ships that sail the Mediterranean are also returning, but most of them still require valid Covid certificates.
As for the places where Croatian tourists like to travel elsewhere in Croatia, the most sought-after destinations for travellers from Eastern Croatia are the Crikvenica Riviera due to its geographical proximity and the Makarska Riviera due to its stunning natural beauty.
“In terms of numbers and income, this summer season will certainly be at 80 percent of the record year of 2019. It’s difficult to say whether it will be reached or exceeded because the largest number of customers book at the last minute, i.e. a few days before their departure. Those who are hoping for ultra last minute discounts will be disappointed, because there are none to speak of, and apparently there won’t be any coming up this year either. All capacities on the Adriatic coast are very well filled, in the very height of the summer season, and even during the post-season. Namely, the pre- and post-season(s) are well filled by school groups who continue to choose the Croatian Adriatic coastline as their destination of choice,” pointed out Tamara Cerneka.
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