August the 24th, 2024 – Have negative headlines and connotations from publications around the world affected Croatian tourism in 2024? Some in the field believe so.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, over one million tourists have visited and holidayed somewhere in Croatia every day since July the 17th this year. Along with the strong demand for last-minute offers, there’s also been great interest in the markets for travel during the off-season, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) points out. When asked about the methods of tourist arrival, they claimed that so far for Croatian tourism in 2024, 4 percent more people have come individually than last year. There has also been a 2 percent increase in those arriving in organised tours through various travel agencies.
“According to the announcements from the market about the great interest in travel outside the main season and in the rest of the year, we expect very good results and trends. In general, by the end of the year, we expect traffic for Croatian tourism to grow by 2 to 5 percent compared to last year, and income will also increase a slightly higher rate,” believes HTZ director Kristjan Staničić.
have negative headlines and publications affected Croatian tourism in 2024?
When asked about this year’s somewhat smaller number of tourists from the German market, he stated that we shouldn’t forget that Croatian tourism saw record, double-digit growth precisely from Germany back in 2022. This year, the European Football Championship was also held there, which kept many Germans at home. He added that it is unrealistic to expect growth at exceptionally high rates every single year, even if we’re talking about the ever-faithful Germans.
He added that there have been slightly fewer tourists from the Czech Republic and neighbouring Italy as well, while growth has been seen from elsewhere in Europe, such as from Poland, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Hungary and Spain. Other markets such as that of the USA has also seen a marked increase.
“Croatia has a very good market mix. In any case, fewer tourists from a particular market is a signal that we should consider possible new trends and features in such markets, that is, we might want to invest additional efforts in promotion”, believes Staničić.
HTZ has a continuous promotional and communication presence on social media, various platforms and search engines. It is also currently conducting a postseason promotion campaign in six markets. A special campaign for the domestic market is also currently being prepared, as well as a so-called early booking campaign for markets that tend to book early.
Commenting on the publications of some foreign media outlets from several countries about high prices in Croatia and Croatian tourism in general, Staničić pointed out that HTZ is constantly monitoring the situation.
“Much like every year, this year we’ve also witnessed certain negative connotations and publications from the media to the detriment of Croatian tourism. It’s difficult to fight such things entirely, but we do still try to respond promptly to every such publication. More often than not, the information being reported is incorrect. This is often the case when it comes to so-called pollution in the sea and on our beaches, the appearance of poisonous jellyfish, mosquito infestations, crazily high prices and so on,” stated the director of HTZ.
“There’s a very intense ‘fight’ for tourists on the market today, so the appearance of media publications with negative connotations should be seen as part of this ‘relentless fight’. That’s because many of Croatia’s competing countries aim to retain and encourage their own citizens to travel within their own countries”, explained Staničić.
american awards for croatian tourism
HTZ recently conducted a competition for directors of HTZ representative offices in Munich and Seoul, and the number of applications was in the double digits. Appointments are “expected during September”. Until now, there was only a branch in Munich, while the main representative office for the German market is in Frankfurt.
Due to the great importance of the German market for Croatian tourism as a whole, the branch in the capital city of Bavaria is turning into a representative office. It will cover the areas of Bavaria, from where the largest number of German tourists who visit Croatia tend to come from, as well as the Baden-Wuertemberg region and Switzerland, except for the canton of Ticino. The current representative office from Frankfurt will now move to Berlin, because HTZ is planning even bigger investments and activities on the German market.
The choice of the individual who will lead the HTZ representative office in Seoul for the next four years is also important considering that the South Korean market is becoming more active again after the coronavirus pandemic, even with new direct flights like that connecting Zagreb and Seoul. This year there were over 30% more tourist arrivals and overnight stays from Korea, which is a marked increase for Croatian tourism.
This year, tourist traffic to Croatia has also been steadily growing from the American market, which is increasingly recognising Croatia as an attractive year-round destination. That has been clearly evidenced by the nominations in three categories for their so-called “Tourism Oscars”, the Travvy Awards 2024.
