The Imotski region has become a true tourist hit, boasting a record tourist season this year. Nova TV set out to find out why Imotski has become the eye candy for tourists coming to Croatia this year.
The Red and Blue Lakes, as expected, are an easy draw, reports Dnevnik.hr on August 9, 2018.
“I chose Imotski because I heard from friends that the lakes are very beautiful and I wanted to see them,” said Ton Lech from the Czech Republic.
Most of the tourists choose to stay in villas, many of which have swimming pools.
“It was most common that tourists would book for one night. But when they saw where they were, and how nice the villas were, then they would stay for two or three days. In principle, we have been completely booked for the last 20 days,” said villa owner Nataša Šerlija.
The tourist community is also happy with the numbers, especially because Imotski is no longer just a day-trip destination.
“In the first seven months of this year, we had almost 37,000 overnight stays and 6,000 arrivals, which is 18 percent more overnight stays and 20 percent more arrivals than the previous year, which is a record,” said Luka Kolovrat from the Tourist Board of Imotski.
In addition to the well-known lakes, Vrljika, and other natural beauties, tourists to Imotski are also enjoying wine tastings so they can try the wine of the region firsthand.
Despite the increasing number of tourists, the people of Imotski complain that the city does not have enough catering facilities, or a workforce.
“There is nowhere in the town to eat something. There was a hotel which is closed,“ says Imotski citizen Krasnodar, while his fellow citizen Neda complains that Imotski is empty and the young have no place to work.
The city authorities have an opportunity to bring back the youth to work in tourism. One plan is the new bicycle paths.
“Next year, over 140 km of bike paths will be ready that will be clearly visible on the GPS,” says Milan Zdilar, the deputy mayor of Imotski.
