May the 6th, 2026 – The main summer season is now rapidly approaching, but will the Croatian tourist season be successful this year with current geopolitical and economic woes? Here’s what the experts have to say.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, despite ongoing inflation, expensive fuel and constant global uncertainty, interest in travel and tourism is still growing. It’s currently higher than it was last year and the highest since pandemic-dominated 2020, with more and more tourists choosing the Mediterranean. Croatia has also been recording a slight increase in arrivals (2-3%). The question arises, as reported by HRT, whether tourism is strengthening due to the country’s genuine attractiveness or the lack of more affordable and safer options.
global circumstances put the croatian tourist season in a decent position, but it still isn’t ideal
“So far, a very small part of the total tourist traffic has been realised, when we look at what we have to realise by the end of the year, only a few million out of the total 108, 109 million overnight stays that we realised last year. We need to be aware of this in these circumstances. We certainly have reason for optimism, especially when we look at the circumstances that are happening on a global scale and how much all this actually affects tourism, which suffers when it comes to any circumstances involving conflict,” stated State Secretary from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports Monika Udovičić.
She emphasised security and overall safety levels as a key prerequisite for the successful realisation of tourist traffic. Naturally, the current circumstances don’t have a particularly positive effect on Croatia, but it is in a far better position than other competitive countries. The very clear advantage at this moment in time is the proximity of the source markets, i.e. the safety of Croatia as a tourist destination.
“When we talk about both arrivals and overnight stays, we’ve grown compared to last year, which we’re very, very satisfied with. However, this doesn’t mean much when we look at things in terms of total numbers. The bulk of tourism’s work awaits us from today until the end of September, when Croatia actually generates more than 85% of its total turnover. This time, meaning from the beginning of May to the end of September will be crucial for this year’s Croatian tourist season, not to mention the main summer months themselves,” said Udovičić.
Udovičić also touched on the Council as a format that was launched during the coronavirus pandemic, when the global public health crisis unlike anything in living memory seriously threatened tourist traffic. She pointed out that such a model has proven to be very effective because tourism is a horizontal activity.
A session of the Council for the Management of Tourism Development was held this week at the National and University Library. During that session, the results of the pre-season and the further development of tourism was discussed, with the focus primarily being on the pre-season.
new rules and croatia’s need to pump the brakes on pricing
“I think this is a big step forward. In addition to the new law on private rentals, there’s a presentation of two more regulations that directly affect the tourism sector, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labour. It’s the Act on the Prevention of Undeclared Work. In addition to these topics, topics that are current were discussed, and they relate to this global situation and price competitiveness, which is a challenge we’ve been talking about for two years now,” she added, emphasising the ongoing issue of Croatia’s price competitiveness.
Despite inflation and uncertainties caused by global circumstances, Vice President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy Andreja Vukojević is of the belief that there’s no room for panic and that the country’s tourism sector is intensively preparing for the upcoming season, with an emphasis on the stability of the sector.
“We know that in the first four months of this year, the numbers have really been better than we thought they’d be. For now, the situation is quite stable and I can say that there’s room for cautious optimism. What the sector expects is the possibility the results from last year being repeated, which were record-breaking,” said Vukojević.
She added that education is being continuously conducted to raise overall quality levels and competitiveness and develop a year-round sustainable destination. She emphasised that this year, it will be crucial for guests to choose destinations that offer their genuinely desired experience and greater competitiveness.
croatia – one of europe’s safest and most stable destinations
“We know that Croatia is one of the most stable, safest destinations in Europe, so I believe that all indicators for the upcoming Croatian tourist season will ultimately be very good,” she said, but still emphasised that changes guest behaviour are visible, especially through shorter stays.
“What we’ve been primarily seeing much more of in recent years is that people travel for less time, their stays are shorter, most stays last three to four days, with more frequent changes of destination and a desire to explore more,” she said, adding that tourists are now often looking for new experiences and are much more price-sensitive, so it’s crucial for Croatia to remain competitive and offer desired solutions through value for money.
The director of the Institute of Tourism, Damir Krešić, agreed with Udovičić and Vukojević and also expressed optimism ahead of the upcoming Croatian tourist season, with an emphasis on pricing policy.
“This optimism should still be moderate because it largely depends on how we manage the season ahead and how smartly we manage our pricing policy, which will be the key to competitiveness,” he said, before explaining that pricing policy shouldn’t be reduced all the way down to total cheapness and that Croatia should offer quality and high value for money. He added that he sees the future of Croatian tourism in positioning itself as a “boutique destination,” rather than in price competition with mass markets.
