August the 12th, 2026 – The Croatian Tourist Board is satisfied, but accommodation owners are claiming that the Croatian Local Host campaign started too late.
“We’re extremely satisfied with the results of the first Local Host label campaign,” stated Kristjan Staničić, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ). Croatia very successfully recorded 12.4 million arrivals from the beginning of the year to the end of July.
Ana Roksandic/Poslovni reports that eight million impressions and almost 500 completed reservations are the results of the first joint promotional campaign by the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Booking.com platform dedicated to Croatian family accommodation and hosts gathered under the Croatian Your Host/Local Host label.
The campaign “Experience real Croatia” ran during the months of June and July on the markets of Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. At its heart were the actual local hosts themselves and the authentic experiences they offer their guests, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) announced.
room for improvement
So far, over 3,570 properties with over 21,170 beds have joined the Croatian Local Host project. The largest number of properties with the Local Host label are located in Istria, on the Kvarner and in Split-Dalmatia County. Looking by destination, the highest numbers are in Crikvenica, Dubrovnik, Pula, Rovinj and Medulin.
“All of our activities are aimed at protecting genuine family accommodation that has been building Croatian tourism for generations and giving special value to our tourism offer. These hosts are precisely the foundation of Croatian tourism, which is why their protection will continue to be our focus,” revealed Tonči Glavina, Minister of Tourism and Sport, adding: “For the first time, we ‘ve also carried out a national promotional campaign dedicated exclusively to family accommodation, and the first results are already visible through 6 percent better occupancy, which confirms that the market recognises the value of authentic hospitality.”
the coast, of course, dominates the campaign
The largest number of properties with the Local Host label are situated in Istria, on the Kvarner and in Split-Dalmatia County.
As HTZ stated on its official website, the “Your Host” (Local Host) label enables hosts to stand out among numerous private accommodation providers and reach guests looking for an authentic and hospitable experience. Label holders can also use the official Local Host visual identity, and their offer can be included in HTZ promotional activities on foreign markets and digital channels. The label also provides them with guidelines for further raising the quality and sustainability of their business. However, among family accommodation providers there are also questions about the criteria for obtaining the label and its real impact.
“In fact, this label tries to make a distinction between such hosts and landlords where the guest often has no contact with the host at all. They arrive, get a code for the key, enter the apartment and leave, and you practically don’t even know who stayed in your accommodation. When you have the Local Host label, you should be present in the place where the property is located. Not necessarily at the address itself, but you should live, or have your residence, in that town or place. If, for example, you rent out a holiday home in Šibenik-Knin County and live in Split, you will not be able to get that label, regardless of the fact that you are available to the guest in that holiday home.
The reason is that your address of residence is not in the municipality or city where the property is located. Obviously there is still a little room for fine-tuning there, but there are people who already have that label and who work exactly like that – they are truly present and available to their guests,” said Ante Glavaš, vice-president of the Croatian Association of Family Accommodation (HUOS), adding: “However, some people in residential buildings have also received these labels. On what principle that happened is not clear to us.”
has this label led to higher occupancy rates?
HTZ says the label leads to higher occupancy: “In addition to an initially higher occupancy rate, properties that are part of the Local Host programme in 2025 recorded further positive progression: their occupancy grew by 5.74 percent compared to the previous year, while the occupancy of properties that are not part of the programme grew by only 0.6 percent. In the first five months of 2026 the occupancy of properties that are part of the Local Host programme, both in absolute terms and in terms of growth rate, remains higher compared to properties that are not in the programme relative to the same period of the previous year.”
However, one label holder we spoke to said the campaign did not have a particularly promotional effect on her property because it was carried out during June and July. Olinka Gjigaš, director of the Tourist Board of the City of Križevci and holder of the “Your Host” label in the Municipality of Kalnik, stressed that she is speaking from personal experience about the campaign’s impact: “I can’t really say there were any changes because the campaign started quite late. At the time when the promotion was being filmed, I already had 90 percent of the dates booked. I saw that the minister spoke about six percent growth, which surprised me – I wonder how that was even calculated.”
HTZ, however, rates the campaign results significantly more positively. “We’re extremely satisfied with the results of the first Local Host label campaign on the Booking.com platform, as well as with the overall effect of the promotional activities aimed at this label so far,” said Kristjan Staničić, director of HTZ, adding that the Local Host project is continuously gathering an ever larger number of hosts. HTZ will continue promotional activities in the second half of the year, when a new wave of the campaign on the domestic market will follow from mid-August to the end of October.
5.74 percen is how much the occupancy of Croatian Local Host properties grew compared to last year, which arguably isn’t much.
istria takes the lead
In a broader context, the Local Host results come at a time when Croatian tourism has been constantly recording a positive continuation of the season. According to data from the eVisitor and eCrew systems, from the beginning of the year to the end of July Croatia recorded 12.4 million arrivals and 59.1 million overnight stays, which is one percent more than in the same period last year. On the Adriatic 56.1 million overnight stays were recorded, or 0.5 percent more, while on the continent, including Zagreb, more than three million overnight stays were recorded, with growth of one percent.
In July alone, 4.7 million arrivals and 29.6 million overnight stays were recorded. Compared to July last year, the number of arrivals increased by 2.5 percent and the number of overnight stays by one percent. The most guests came from Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary.
Istria retained its leading position among the counties with 16.7 million overnight stays in the first seven months, followed by Split-Dalmatia County with 11.1 million and Kvarner with 9.7 million overnight stays. Among destinations, Dubrovnik, Rovinj, Poreč, Split and Umag lead.
