As Morski writes, back during the global coronavirus pandemic, those visiting Croatia by boat proved to be the most loyal and resilient guests of all. They didn’t give up on their holidays and docking in Croatian marinas even during intermittent lockdowns. Therefore, it isn’t remotely surprising that this year there have been and continue to be some excellent tourist numbers in the blossoming nautical tourism sector, all over the coast.
Boaters lived up to previous expectations and the season is very good, much better than last year.
”At the ACI marina level, we’ve already exceeded the results, in the financial sense of course, from pre-pandemic 2019, which for me is excellent. What, for example, last year we did not have, is a significant number of guests from Italy. This year, the Italians also started returning to Croatian marinas quite a lot and in large numbers,” explained Leo Ajdukovic, the director of ACI Marina Dubrovnik.
Both in down in southern and in the northern part of the Croatian Adriatic, it is difficult to find a free berth in Croatian marinas, and after a good main summer season, a great postseason is also comfortably expected.
”Last year the post-season was absolutely fantastic, it lasted throughout the whole of October, I hope that this year the post-season will also be the same as it was back in 2021, and maybe even last a little longer,” said Leo Ajdukovic.
This good summer season has also been due to good preparation: ACI’s biggest investment this year was in the Dubrovnik marina, and a massive 16 million kuna was invested in 232 metres of new waterfront.
The season down in Dubrovnik is unsurprisingly very good, however, this year will not outdo the record-breaking year of 2019. Compared to 2019, Dubrovnik is at almost 70 percent of arrivals and 80 percent of overnight stays, and the fact that things are finally returning to normal has been shown that the most numerous guests there are from Northern European countries such as Britain etc.
Although there are fewer arrivals and overnight stays overall, according to the first data, earnings should be significantly higher than they were back in 2019, which is logical – all prices have increased, including hotels, restaurants and all that places where tourists spend their money.
This summer season will be remembered for the Peljesac bridge opening and the first results are already visible: there are noticeably more guests on the Peljesac peninsula, and Jadrolinija has introduced another ferry.
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