Croats will travel a lot this winter.
Croatian travel agencies have recorded a rise in sales for Advent, New Year and winter holidays by an average of about ten percent compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Croatian Travel Agency Association (UHPA), and Atlas and Kompas travel agencies, reports tportal.hr on December 13, 2017.
“Most of the travel agencies expect more travellers both in Croatia and abroad this season. As in previous years, Croatian citizens will travel more for the New Year’s Day, while they prefer to spend Christmas with their families,” said UHPA.
As for travel abroad, Croatian citizens prefer one-day, two-day and three-day bus trips to neighbouring countries, and the most popular destinations are Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Salzburg, Milan, Tuscany, Verona and Venice, while those with a little bit more money on their hands will travel to Lisbon, London, Rome and, surprisingly, Rovaniemi in Finland.
In Croatia, Zagreb is the absolute favourite for the Advent travel, and the UHPA emphasises that most hotel facilities in the Croatian capital have already been sold out. Zagreb is followed by Čazma and its Salaj Family Christmas Fairytale festival, as well as Opatija, Split and Varaždin.
“In addition to Advent, the travel agencies are pleased with the sales of New Year’s packages, which are around 15 percent better than last year for international destinations and by about five percent for domestic destinations. For the New Year’s, the most popular packages are those for Opatija, Split, Dubrovnik, Rovinj, Crikvenica and Pula, and there is a growing demand for the Baranja region,” announced the UHPA.
Many Croats will also spend the New Year’s celebrations in European destinations, such as Vienna, London, Paris, Prague, Budapest, Malta, Sicily, Portugal, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo).
As for winter skiing season, the sales are ten percent higher than last year, mostly for ski resorts in Austria, Italy and Slovenia. Most people will travel during the school winter holidays, between 27 December to 14 January.
The UHPA says that the agency prices for all the packages this year are mostly similar to last year’s and that the majority of sales, almost 80 percent, are paid by travellers in instalments.
The most significant Croatian travel agencies, Atlas and Kompas, have announced they are satisfied with the sales of holiday travel packages. Atlas, which is Croatia’s largest tour operator, said the sales were about ten percent higher. “We are delighted with sales, and we do not expect many last-minute deals. Among European destinations, the most sought-after ones are Vienna, Prague, Malta and Portugal, while in other parts of the world we have interest for China, Thailand, Cuba, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and especially Dubai, which has replaced Egypt,” said Atlas representatives, adding that prices ranged from 600 to over 20,000 kunas.
Kompas also says that the sales are about ten percent better than last year, with especially popular this year being Lisbon and Andalusia in Spain.
Translated from tportal.hr.
