New towels and bedsheets have been purchased, the walls are freshly painted, and the weeds in the garden have been picked. In short, pre-season preparation in family accommodation has begun in Split. The situation in Greece and Turkey has stabilized, the mentioned destinations have again jumped on the list of priority countries for summer holidays, and we are often left wondering if Croatia is still a European hotspot, if the summer will be a hit for Split renters, or if we’ll be wishing for better times.
In the City of Split, there are currently 22,421 beds in family accommodation alone, and 5,726 private renters, as officially confirmed by the Split Tourist Board. We also know that according to the current status of registered beds for rent, the number is smaller than it was last season. However, it should be emphasized that these are the current statistics, and we must remember that the office continues to come up with solutions for categorization and the number of renters grows every day, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on April 25, 2019.
“The number of beds is at the same level, and even less than the summer of 2018. However, this data does not show a realistic situation because solutions on categorization are ongoing and the number of registered facilities for this year is still unknown,” said the Split Tourist Board.
Among the so far reported family accommodation units, most have three gold stars plastered on their front door.
“In family accommodation, there are mostly objects with three-stars, however, given that it is only the first half of the year, the comparison is not realistic,” added the Split Tourist Board.
Martina Nimac Kalcina, president of the Family Tourism Community Section at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, commented on the status of bookings and what renters of family accommodation should expect this season.
“The comments of renters are good. They say that bookings are good and they are not worse, as it was described recently. I would say that the deficit is worse at the level of the whole country, and on the city level of Split and the whole County, it is the same as last year, if not better. From communication with some of my colleagues, I even heard that in Split-Dalmatia County this summer, there would be a double-digit percentage increase in bookings in all forms of tourism and capacities compared to the last tourist season. For family accommodation in the area of Split, so far only positive comments have been made to me about reservations,” says Martina Nimac Kalcina, who adds that there are always exceptions and it is already clear that there will be a lot of last minute bookings.
“If you do not do enough work in service, have poor reviews, do not offer a special location or facilities or are new renters who do not yet have comments and ratings, it is, of course, more difficult to be fully booked than those who have made an effort to be evaluated, provide additional services, and are in a good location,” concluded the president of the Community of Family Tourism at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, stressing that Split is still a different tourist hub than Croatia as a whole.
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