April the 4th, 2024 – Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac has stated that Croatian tourism has finally taken on its long (and much) desired ”year-round” character.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, according to the first data obtained from the eVisitor system, more than 1.1 million arrivals and more than three million overnight stays were realised across Croatia from January to the end of March. That figure represents a growth of 16 percent in terms of arrivals and 15 percent in terms of overnight stays compared to the same period in 2023.
Of the above numbers, 2.2 million overnight stays were realised on the Adriatic coast, marking a 20% increase compared to last year. In addition to that, more than 415 thousand overnight stays were realised in the continental part of the country, representing steady growth of 7%.
During the first quarter of 2024, 440,000 overnight stays were realised here in the capital city of Zagreb, which represents an increase of 5% compared to the same period last year, according to the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ/CNTB).
Croatian tourism has a stronger overall offer
“We’ve been recording stable and double-digit traffic growth, which is a direct indicator of the strengthening of the overall offer of Croatian tourism during the pre-season, that is, the increasing recognition of Croatia as year-round destination,” stated Kristjan Staničić, the director of HTZ.
When we look at these overall figures for Croatian tourism by county, in the first quarter of 2024, the most overnight stays were realised in Istria (772 thousand), in Kvarner (534 thousand) and in Split-Dalmatia County (333 thousand). Looking at them according to destination – we go down from the top being Zagreb, to Rovinj, Dubrovnik, Split, Opatija, Poreč and then finally to Zadar.
According to the markets, in the first three months of this year, the most overnight stays were realised by guests from the domestic market (more than 962 thousand), followed by the neighbouring Slovenians (more than 285 thousand), Germans (279 thousand) and Austrians (more than 250 thousand).
According to the types of accommodation facilities utilised during this period, the most overnight stays were realised in hotels (1.7 million overnight stays), in household (private) facilities (638 thousand overnight stays) and in camps (151 thousand overnight stays).
the faithful germans and austrians
“The fact that for the second year in a row, we’ve recorded record these sorts of numbers in Croatian tourism during the pre-season is confirmation that tourists recognise us as a year-round destination. It also confirms that the country’s destinations are continuing to boast a richer offer in that period,” said Nikolina Brnjac, Minister of Tourism and Sport.
During the extended Easter weekend, there were 120,436 arrivals and 380,970 overnight stays recorded across the country. In addition to local guests, the most numerous foreign nationals visiting the country were Germans, Austrians, Italians, Slovenians and Slovaks. As far as Croatian tourism goes as a whole during the Easter break this year, Poreč, Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Rovinj and Split welcomed the most guests.
