September the 28th, 2023 – There’s many a Croatian national holiday, but could another one end up being added to the long list? Maybe.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Mladen Miletic writes, investments in the green and digital transition of tourism, people, facilities and content in both global and Croatian tourism are the key to its sustainable development. This was stated by the Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac, on the occasion of 2023’s World Tourism Day on September the 27th.
Croatia hits Riyadh
On that occasion, Brnjac was representing the Republic of Croatia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at a gathering of representatives of more than 100 member states, national and tourism leaders from the public and private sectors, organised by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
As the main theme of this year’s World Tourism Day, the UNWTO highlighted “Tourism and Green Investments”, emphasising the importance of increasing investments for the sustainable future of tourism. This would ideally be done through investments in people (in education and skills), the planet (in sustainable infrastructure and by accelerating the green transformation), and prosperity (in innovation, technology and entrepreneurship).
What of Croatia’s reforms?
At the ministerial panel held on September the 28th this year on the sustainable future of tourism, Minister Brnjac is set to present the Croatian Government’s strategic steps towards sustainable tourism.
“With what’s been a record amount of grants, a new investment cycle is being launched in accordance with our strategic goals, and we’re planning to ensure the continuation of the green transition and investment in quality through the sectoral incentive programme,” revealed Brnjac.
Could World Tourism Day become yet another Croatian national holiday?
The fact that the World Tourism Day could become yet another Croatian national holiday has been confirmed by new Eurostat data on the number and share of foreign tourists staying overnight across the EU, as well as in each country individually. Namely, along with Malta (92%) and Cyprus (91%), Croatia is among the three EU Member States where foreign tourists contribute more than 90% to the total number of overnight stays. It is followed by Luxembourg, where arrivals from other countries account for 86% of overnight stays, which is then followed by Greece (84%). Otherwise, the European Union’s average currently stands at a much lower 43%. On the other hand, Croatian guests significantly predominate the tourism picture in Romania, where foreigners make up only 14% of overnight stays, and the same can also be said for both Poland and Germany.
Otherwise, although the EU makes up only 5.6 percent of the world’s entire population and 3% of the globe’s inhabited area. The countries of the European Union “covered” 45.8% of the total tourist traffic back in 2022, which is partly a consequence of the fact that the Far East was closed off for a very long time.
