July 23, 2020 – The director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB), Kristjan Stanicic, said on Wednesday that Croatia was a hit tourist destination and that tourist traffic was already recording 40 percent of last year, and they hoped for further growth. At the beginning of the corona crisis, they did not expect numbers greater than 30 percent.
Vecernji List reports that the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board held a coordination meeting with the director of the Zadar County Tourist Board, Mihael Kadija, and 28 representatives of the county tourist boards of cities and municipalities at the Kolovare Hotel.
On that occasion, he pointed out that in this time of crisis, they focused on the nearest markets – Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, given that the Croatian coast is mostly an auto destination, which is an excellent thing at the moment.
“We conducted several promotional campaigns in foreign markets, and given the epidemic, we focused on the nearest markets in our area. The proximity of these markets to Croatia, and especially to Zadar County, is now a big plus for us. Growing figures show that Croatia is a hit destination. At the same time, we are ready to respond to articles in foreign media that are focused on keeping domestic tourists within the borders of their countries,” Stanisic said.
When asked by the press how he commented on the fact that the Netherlands put Croatia on the orange list, without concrete data on how many people have been infected per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks, he said that it is difficult to give any estimates for the season to continue.
“I believe that the situation will change soon, because every 14 days the list is updated, and the number of infected in our country is declining. I also believe that in good communication and the epidemiological situation, we will return to the green list. As for the criteria, they are not unique for all countries,” said Stanicic and emphasized that this is only a recommendation of the Netherlands that their citizens go into self-isolation upon their return from Croatia.
Stanicic also presented the promotional activities carried out by the Croatian National Tourist Board to position Croatia as a safe tourist destination in the current market circumstances and future activities, which will, among other things, include the adoption of new bylaws and regulations that will further improve and regulate tourism processes. The director of the Zadar County Tourist Board, Mihaela Kadija, pointed out that the Zadar area is still a hit destination, and the numbers are much better than what experts predicted in March.
“Our figures are excellent. We planned to reach 30 percent and realized 67 percent of last year’s tourist traffic, of which 60 percent is commercial traffic. As for events, we appealed to partner tourist communities to agree with their organizers a customized program with adherence epidemiological measures. Everyone is of the same view, and that is that we must be responsible,” Kadija said.
The coordination meeting also discussed the development of the system of tourist boards with an emphasis on tasks and roles at the local and regional levels and the nautical segment, and announced a performance at the WTM tourism fair to be held in London in November.
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