A look at what tourists have said concern them most about visiting Croatia.
“The food is great, the sea is amazing, and the landscapes take your breath away”. This is just part of what has been said over the years by tourists who have raved about Croatia.
Unfortunately, there are always two sides to every story, and while we may not want to hear it, these same tourists also have their Croatian objections.
Here’s a look at what tourists have said regarding the not-so-good parts of Croatia, as reported by Slobodna Dalmacija on August 29, 2017.
“Tourists are bothered by the fact that most restaurants do not take cards, especially those on the islands. Tourists are then asked to look for an ATM on the island after they’ve eaten. Similarly, many restaurants do not allow splitting the dinner tab with more than one card. You also can’t pay with cards at galleries, souvenir shops, cafes, and more.
Foreigners are also puzzled by the fact that many homemade wines are so expensive. They think that the wine is good, but it is usually out of their price range. Also, those sailing are regularly shocked at the prices of marinas in our country,” says Helena Ćatipović, a travel agency manager who specializes in yacht charter with “Summer Breeze”.
“The guests I encounter are mostly of higher spending power and are surprised by the lack of real casinos and the fact that all night clubs are the same and everywhere plays the same type of music – there is no offer for guests with a somewhat refined taste.
I always wonder where I can send guests in the evening to have fun if they do not want to listen to the house music that is all over the coast. Let’s say they prefer to listen to jazz or blues or guitar and have cocktails? We also have guests that want to dress up nicely and go to classier places,” added Ćatipović.
Filip Voloder from the “Tchaikovsky” hostel cites other criticisms.
“The young tourists staying with us are mostly bothered by the poor options for island-hopping. Today, the trend is to remain in every place two days and then move on. With the islands, tourists want to go from one island to the other, and often the connection is bad, or they have to return to the mainland to catch another ferry to another island they want to visit.
They have also complained about our poor railroads. A lot of travelers are accustomed to traveling by train because they are cheaper and tourists can use an interrail pass, meaning they pay one ticket to travel by train all over Europe. Germany and Italy have great railroad tracks, and we can say this freely – ours are a disaster,” said Voloder.
Tourist guide Frane Vuk said:
“When looking at daily contact with tourists, they often tell me that Croatians are overly conservative and that they are surprised at the medieval attitudes some of our citizens have.
They often complain about unfriendliness. There were cases where rent-a-car companies charged tourists for non-existent costs. One of the most common things they complain about is that taxi drivers charge drastically different prices for the same destination. I had an example of tourists who rented a car for the apartment they were staying at in Žnjan or Brda who said that tenants in the area would push them out of public parking areas and insist on towing their cars because they have been parking there for years,” said Vuk.
And now, from the tourists.
“I’ve been here for two weeks on Hvar, Vis and Split. This is my second time in Croatia, but I do not think I’m coming back. I don’t want to be misunderstood, Croatia is a beautiful country, but the behavior of people is miserable and ignorant. True, I’ve met friendly locals, but that’s an exception. In every other country I have praised the hospitality of the host, why is Croatia so different?” asked one tourist.
“The Croats will remain in memory as unkind. When we visited Rab, we asked the tourist office for the easiest way to reach Split, and the guy just told us ‘good luck’.”
And why are there no free walking tours?
“Guests are bothered that we do not allow free walking tours while they can be found everywhere else in the world. Bureaucracy does not permit it. These are usually better than classic guided tours because young, creative people lead them, and classic tours are done by older people with outdated licenses. For example, Belgrade has excellent free walking tours and tourists adore them,” adds Filip Voloder from “Tchaikovsky” hostel.
From lack of parking to lack of fine dining restaurants, garbage on the beaches, smells, poor accommodation facilities and unfriendly hosts, what are some things that concern you most about visiting Croatia?
Excerpts taken from Slobodna Dalmacija
