In August 2019, there were 4.7 percent more arrivals and 2.6 percent more overnight stays in Croatia, despite the mixed bag of news about the state of Croatian tourism – which desperately still requires a major shake-up.
As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of September, 2019, as we’re now at the end of the height of the Croatian tourist season, the country managed to come out of a very challenging tourist season still with a plus, in spite of an abnormally rainy May and a far weaker July.
According to eVisitor’s data obtained by Poslovni Dnevnik from the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), 16.2 million arrivals and 88.5 million overnight stays have been recorded so far, which represents a 4.1 percent increase in arrivals and 1.6 percent overnight stays compared to the same period last year.
In August alone, there were about 4.7 million arrivals and 31.5 million overnight stays realised, marking a welcome plus of 4.7 percent in arrivals and another plus of 2.6 percent in overnight stays when compared to the same period last year.
The official results of 2019’s Croatian tourist season will be presented over the coming days by Croatian Tourism Minister Gary Cappelli and Kristjan Staničić, the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board. The minister already announced last week that this year would end in a plus, thanks to good forecasts for the post-season, which continues to be counted in Croatia as of September.
Croatian campsites, however, have experienced a minus.
Croatian campsites are the only segment of accommodation that has remained with a minus of 1.3 nights in overnight stays even at the end of August, which is still slightly better than at the end of July.
The best performers were Croatian hotels with almost six percent more arrivals and 1.8 percent more overnight stays, while private accommodation had 5 percent more arrivals than last year, as well as 2.5 percent more overnight stays. After a minus in July, apartments progressed in August, which is still low considering that another 33,000 new beds have been opened in that segment this year.
Judging by the first results coming from other Mediterranean countries, Croatia is expected to perform much lower this year than Turkey do, but still better than Greece, which is recording minuses.
Turkey hosted 24.69 million foreign tourists in the first seven months of 2019, up 14 percent from last year, with Istanbul in first place in terms of tourist arrivals. Antalya attracted a record number of 10 million foreign tourists by August the 22nd, up 17.6 percent from 2018, while a year earlier, Antalya, had 6.7 million tourist arrivals.
An analysis of STR also showed that this summer in Turkey, with the occupancy of hotels, the average room rate also increased.
The average price for a room at a five-star hotel in July thus rose by 14 percent, reaching 100 euros, and 103 euros in Istanbul. Antalya had the largest increase in the average room rate of 22 percent, to an average of 172 euros per room in a five star hotel.
However, after two years of very good results, Greece has seen a drop in hotel turnover this summer. The Hotel Association of Greece found that hotels in Greece experienced a minus of 15 percent in mainland destinations, and 10 percent on the islands, forcing them to slash their prices.
For Greek hoteliers in 2020, the main challenge will be how to bring back guests from Western Europe who travel by road.
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