June 20, 2020 – How would you rather spend your money? A car ferry ticket to a Croatian island, or 7 days accommodation in Greece INCLUDING flight from the UK AND money left over for dinner and drinks?
I have spoken to and met with a lot of people in the last few weeks, gathering information and experiences about the tourist season, or lack of it. Once Tourism Minister Cappelli announced that Croatia was ‘breathing tourism’, the natural expectation was that there would be an upsurge in arrivals, and that there would be the semblance of a tourist season. With a general election just 15 days away, it is important to keep up all the positive stories of what the Croatian Government is doing to bring tourists to Croatia.
The reality, sadly, is very, very little, despite what you may hear. The Croatian National Tourist Board is only targetting seven countries with its latest campaign – Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia and Poland. No need to target the likes of Switzerland, for example.
I was in Munich for 24 hours this week, surely a key market for German tourists. I walked all over the centre of town and was looking out for signs of Croatian tourism promotion.
There was nothing whatsoever.
Here, at Karlsplatz Stacchus in the centre of Munich, an enticing invitation to visit Austria.
Talking to various tourism professionals has been very insightful to provide a bigger picture overall. One hotel group told me that 75% of their regular guests (Americans, Brazilians, Asians) cannot physically visit Croatia at the moment, so the best they can expect is 25% of last year. If the arrivals of the other countries will be at the same level.
They won’t be.
Another told me of the change in travel patterns which seems to be emerging. The era of island hopping is slowly changing to a fixed address for a 7-day stay, as tourists would rather have limited contact and onward travel.
And then there is price.
Back on March 25, 2020, in Hope v Reality: Will There Be a 2020 Tourist Season in Croatia?, I wrote
Competition for tourists after coronavirus is going to be INSANE
Greece, Italy, Spain, Egypt, France, Turkey, Tunisia, Montenegro and many other countries have very large tourism industries, all of which are in a similar situation as Croatia. They will all be trying extra hard to grab whatever they can from the smaller pot of potential tourists. And one of the key weapons they will fight with is one where Croatian tourism is not particularly competitive.
Price.
Expect savage discounts to get at least some tourists to come. Imagine how cheap Italy is going to be, for example, as they need to rebuild their tourism industry. But Turkey, Egypt, Greece – they are better on price than Croatia traditionally, so if there is going to be a tourist season in Croatia this year, there is going to have to be a lot of thought on price.
Want to know just how insane that competition is? You can currently book a 7-day holiday in Greece from the UK with self-catering accommodation AND flight for £124, departing in the peak season on July 12. Just one of many, many unbelievable deals being offered by Croatia’s tourism competition. Check some of them out here.
That £124 for an entire holiday including flight is considerably cheaper than the cost of the return ferry ticket for a family car to the island of Lastovo, and a similar price for the Split to Stari Grad ferry on Hvar. So island visitors are already paying as more or more for their holiday without adding the costs of travel and accommodation.
But worry not, for the Ministry of Tourism is celebrating the fact that Jadrolinija (a State-owned company) is not increasing its fares for the 2020 season.
If you are travelling on a ferry in Croatia this summer, you will certainly be able to ‘breathe Croatia’s tourism’ as there will be few tourists around you.
For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily.
Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language – now available in 24 languages
Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.
