While the quick booking up of Croatia’s coastal hotels might indicate positive trends, what does it say about the country’s hotel offer?
As Slobodna Dalmacija writes on the 4th of March, 2018, numerous European Tour Operators are complaining that they have never received a stop booking notice earlier for the season from hotel owners and operators in Croatia.
Although hotels along the Adriatic generally open up in the second half of March for early guests who will arrive during the Easter period, much of their capacity that European tour companies have been selling for this season has already been reserved.
Of course, this phenomenon has emerged much earlier during this winter than it has done in the past few years, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be more tourists present, nor does it mean there will be a longer season in Croatia.
While it can be taken as a positive indication on the one hand, on the other, it is an alarming indication that there may actually be too few hotels on the Adriatic in general, and that Europeans have been booking their summer breaks much earlier on in the year, apparently influenced by last year’s experience when they delayed that moment and were no longer able to find hotels with free rooms. That’s why this year, it appears that they’ve rushed to decide on a Croatian coastal destination to visit before the same issue occurs again.
As well as providing hoteliers with a more peaceful and smooth entry into the pre-season, early sales and reservations also provides them with adequate funds for season preparation, through the advance payments made by their foreign partners.
Owing to varying trends, a smaller number of hotels in the Adriatic have been available year by year, all of those which are inexpensive, at least in comparison to some others, are “reserved” by TUI, Thomas Cook, Rewe Group, Kompas, Appola and other European companies who have exclusive rights.
Current indicators point to the fact that nearly all of the coast finds its best months to be June and September. Moreover, thanks to the great sales for this June and September, two months which are filled by individual bookings, numerous organised groups are moving to May and October, so the current situation on the hotel market is welcome to most.
