October the 1st, 2025 – There have been some excellent numbers for Croatian tourism in September, with the number of fiscalised receipts issued also encouraging.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sinisa Malus writes, the high expectations for the post-season were, it seems, justified, at least if we judge by the fiscalised receipts issued. During the month of September, the amounts of fiscalised receipts grew by more than 20 percent (based on a seven-day average) compared to last year, with the number of invoices issued also increasing very significantly.
increases and sustainability
Throughout July and August, the growth rates were significantly lower, or single-digit, which isn’t particularly surprising because this year there was no growth in tourist overnight stays during the peak of the season. Only June can match the intensity of growth seen in September, which is proof that the strategy of strengthening the pre-season and post-season has clearly proven to be correct so far.
The period of late summer and early autumn is thus becoming a new generator of growth for Croatian tourism, as shown by both last year’s and this year’s trends. The weather also served its purpose during September, which is not unimportant at this time of year. Those in the hotel business are satisfied with their bookings for the first week of October as well.
Since the majority of tourist overnight stays realised during the off-season are in higher-quality accommodation, it’s expected that this year’s off-season may even surpass last year’s. According to the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), the total number of arrivals to Croatia in August stood at 4.96 million, an increase of one percent compared to the previous year. Overnight stays on the other hand stood at 31.2 million, a decrease of 1.5 percent compared to 2024.
Strengthening the pre-season and the off-season is one of the main goals of the Croatian National Tourist Board. The growth of tourist traffic is the result of the joint work of the entire tourism sector, from public institutions and the private sector to local communities, and the strong promotion of Croatia on international markets also played a key role.
During the main summer months, positive indicators were successfully maintained at the level of the entire year, and tourism workers’ expectations for the rest of the off-season are also good. Although Croatia is at the very top of European countries with developed tourism and a rich tourist offer, seasonality remains a serious challenge. This is precisely why the off-season, a period that offers a quieter but equally rich experience, is a key opportunity during which the country can attract guests.
more campaigns for the pre- and post-season
Until the end of the year, HTZ will carry out several more campaigns related to strengthening the pre- and post-season, as well as encouraging early bookings for next year. “It’s important for us to emphasise the advantages that the high season brings us in this regard, such as less crowds, a pleasant climate and more affordable prices, which additionally motivates guests to travel to Croatia during September, October, and later,” Kristjan Staničić, the director of HTZ stated.
The PPS campaign called “Get to know me” will be implemented on the markets of France, Poland and the United Kingdom until the end of October, and the “early booking” campaign “Just a booking away” will be implemented on the German, Austrian and Swiss markets from October to December. During the same period, the Local host campaign will be implemented on the Booking.com portal, for the markets of Croatia, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary and the UK, and there are also special collaborations with “travel” platforms. Until December, collaboration with Expedia is underway across the pond in the United States, and nautical tourism advertising is being carried out in parallel on the Nautical channel.
reducing seasonality
Reducing seasonality will be particularly encouraged by highlighting the reasons for coming to Croatia during the pre- and post-season, in which, in addition to traditional markets, medium-distance and long-distance markets are of great importance. In those countries, the primary interest is not sun and sea, but rather getting to know Croatia.
It is also extremely positive that some airlines have extended flights to Croatian airports this autumn. For Dubrovnik Airport, American airline United Airlines, which connects Dubrovnik with New York (Newark) daily until the end of September, will continue with this direct route in October with as many as four rotations a day.
