November the 14th, 2026 – Continental Croatian tourism is up by 60%, with new million-euro incentives coming in 2027 aimed at less developed inland regions.
The Croatian National Tourist Board recently launched a new cycle of public tenders for 2027, focused on the development of continental and less developed tourist regions and the promotion of events. Zrinka Gabelica Toplek reports for Poslovni that the decision to announce the tenders was made by the HTZ Tourism Council at its 9th session, and funding is secured through dedicated resources from the Fund for Touristically Underdeveloped Areas and the Mainland and the Fund for Associated Tourist Boards.
big increases for continental croatia
The adopted Open Call for Expressions of Interest aims at cooperation with organisers of “TOP events” of national significance and other events in the segments of eno-gastronomy, nautical tourism, culture, sport, entertainment, MICE and health tourism. In addition, tenders have been announced for regional tourist boards in underdeveloped areas and for projects of associated tourist boards.
“By announcing new tenders for 2027 through the HTZ funds, we are continuing with concrete measures by which we encourage more balanced development of Croatian tourism, while at the same time continuing cooperation with organisers of events and top events that contribute to the attractiveness of our destinations and the attraction of guests throughout the year,” said Minister of Tourism and Sport Tonči Glavina. He emphasised that since 2021, 51.6 million euros have been secured from these funds for more than 2,000 projects.
“The results are also visible in tourist traffic, which in the continental counties has increased by 60 percent in arrivals and 58 percent in overnight stays over the past ten years, while according to the latest TOMAS research, the average daily expenditure of tourists in continental Croatia has increased by 21 percent compared to 2022.
These are indicators of the growing importance of continental tourism in the overall development of Croatian tourism, and our goal is to continue this positive trend, further strengthen the tourist offer and enable local communities across Croatia to feel the benefits of tourism even more strongly,” Glavina emphasised.
encouraging cooperation
HTZ director Kristjan Staničić stressed that with these calls they want to further encourage the development of quality events that have the potential to become a reason for the arrival of domestic and foreign guests.
“We place special emphasis on touristically underdeveloped areas and the mainland, where events can play an exceptionally important role in creating the recognisability of destinations, activating local potentials and a more even distribution of tourist traffic,” Staničić said, adding that their goal is to support events that, through quality, content and organisation, can position themselves at the national level, create additional value for the destination and encourage cooperation between tourist boards, local stakeholders and the economy.
