A reflection on the tourist season in the first six months of 2017 in the area of Sinj and Dicmo, Hrvace and Otok.
According to data from eVisitor which contains tourist traffic created in commercial and non-commercial facilities and nautical charter (eCrew), during the first six months of 2017, Croatia recorded 5.7 million arrivals and 22.9 million overnight stays. Compared with the same period last year, an increase of 22% in arrivals and 23% in overnight stays has been recorded. In June, the largest increase in tourist traffic was recorded.
Thus, the Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli emphasized: “The tourism revenues in the first three months of this year are indicative of the growing strength of Croatian tourism and the achievement of outstanding results throughout the year. With regard to the investments planned this year in hotels and additional facilities, but considering the results of the tourist traffic so far, I believe that more significant revenue growth will be realized in the rest of the year and we will be even closer to our goal of 14 billion EUR income in tourism by 2020.”
The Sinj tourist community follows this growing trend in Croatia. Based on data from eVisitor from January 1 to June 30, 2017, in the area of Sinj, Dicmo, Hrvace and Otok across 51 accommodation facilities (1 hotel and 50 private accommodation facilities: apartments, villas and Holiday homes) there were 4,770 arrivals and 13,454 overnight stays. This is an increase of up to 20.23% in arrivals and 22.73% in overnight stays when compared to last year. The largest number of arrivals and overnight stays was created in the city of Sinj, which recorded 4,287 arrivals and a total of 10,505 overnight stays. According to the structure of guests, the largest number of overnight stays was made by domestic guests, and foreign guests came mostly from Germany, followed by Romania, Korea, Greece, Poland, France, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, etc.
In the Municipality of Dicmo, there were 234 arrivals and 1,742 overnight stays, in the Municipality of Hrvace there were 228 arrivals and 1,084 overnight stays, and in the Municipality of Otok there were 21 arrivals and 123 overnight stays.
From this data, it is clear that guests in the area of Sinj stay an average of two days, while in holiday homes in the area of Sinj, Dicmo, Hrvace and Otok guests stay on average for six days. This data speaks to the development of rural tourism, but also of the changing habits of guests who are increasingly looking to explore the destination they are coming to, become acquainted with its tradition and all that it can provide.
In the first six months of 2017, the city of Sinj and Dicmo, Hrvace and Otok County had 51 accommodation facilities with a total of 432 beds. In this area, there has also been an increase in the opening of new accommodation facilities. The area of Sinj has opened seven, Hrvace has opened three, Dicmo has opened five, and one accommodation facility has opened in the Municipality of Otok.
We must not forget the impressive figures of daily arrivals to the area of Sinj, like the number of visitors to the Museum of the Sinjska Alka which recorded more than 55,000 visitors.
Judging by the current accommodation reservations, but also following the trends of new accommodation facility openings in the area of Sinj and Dicmo, Hrvace and Otok, forecasts for the continuation of record tourism numbers in 2017 are also optimistic.
