2016 is going to be a busy year for tourism in Croatia.
According to the first official figures from the local tourist boards in Croatia, in 2015 Croatia was visited by 14,150,000 tourists, which is 8.3 percent more than in 2014. There were 78,569,000 overnight stays, which is 6.8 percent more than in 2014. Although for more precise forecast for this season we should wait for the results of the Berlin Travel Trade Show, tour operators already mostly know what to expect this summer, reports Novlist on January 18, 2016.
Selimir Ognjenović, one of the most well-known people in the tourist industry and the co-owner of the German tour operator ID Riva Tours with headquarters in Munich, specializes in the Croatian market and is optimistic for the upcoming season. Germans were the most frequent guests in Croatia last year, with as many as 16.73 million overnight stays, which was an increase of 6.6 percent.
“As far as Germans are concerned, they have already begun to decide where they will spend their holidays. Just during this month, we expect that between ten and eleven thousand people will book their vacations through ID Riva Tours, which is better not only than last year, but also than in 2012”, said Ognjenović. He points out that it is important to understand that the problems which others tourist countries have are not just their problems.
“What is happening in Turkey is no longer a problem just for Turkish destinations, it is a problem of global tourism. When you hear that anywhere in the world such problems and terrorist attacks occur, you are less willing to travel somewhere, you feel that your safety is not guaranteed and you decide to stay home. No destination cannot make a long-term profit from the fact that its neighbouring areas have lost visitors due to terrorism. It is a fact that terrorism in other countries has brought some tourists to Croatia last year, and I believe that the same will happen in 2016. However, I sincerely sympathize with the problems that some of the countries in this region have, such as Turkey, because the same thing happened to Croatia. We need to understand that their road to recovery will be a long one and they will try to lower prices. When you want to bring back the trust that you have lost, you want to bring in tourists ‘for free'”, said Ognjenović.
“We are receiving warnings that, when tourists start returning to these destinations in Turkey, there will be a huge drop in prices. We should not blame them, because they will be buying something that they had already had. At that point, we must be prepared to do what we have to keep guests in Croatia with the quality level of our services, so that a large part of the tourists who came to us for the first time feel good here and that they become our long-term guests. We have to make them come to us as their first choice, even if other countries lower their prices”, added Ognjenović.
“At this moment, if there is not some kind of major terrorist attack somewhere, Croatia should have a good tourist season. The last season was great for Croatia, everything went well, including weather conditions. If there aren’t any major problem, we could perhaps extend the season for another week or so. Seven or eight years ago, there were just two hotels opened in Poreč for the New Year’s period, and this year all hotels in Poreč were open, which demonstrates that we can extend the season. The important thing is that this year Easter holidays come early, in late March, so if we do our job the best we can, we could solve the whole April”, believes Ognjenović who adds that Kvarner region has made a considerable progress as a destination in recent years.
