May the 11th, 2025 – Despite the ongoing economic issues and thinning wallets, German tourists are making their big return to the Croatian coast.
As Sinisa Malus/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Germany hasn’t had an easy time of it of late, but one piece of positive information is that despite it all, German tourists are returning to the Croatian coast – and in significant numbers. According to preliminary data for April, the month was marked by the great return of German tourists to the Croatian coast and an encouraging feeling for the upcoming main summer season.
In the context of complex geopolitical circumstances, tourism has become one of the most sensitive sectors. Trump’s bizarre tariffs, especially those on cars, hit the German economy the hardest. It seems that the Germans have decided to respond to them – by cancelling any trips across the pond to the USA. A staggering 28 percent fewer German tourists travelled to the United States in March according to German media reports which referred to data from the US International Trade Administration.
german tourists on the croatian coast will be paying careful attention to prices…
How many Germans will travel this year and where they’ll go, has become the million dollar (or euro) question. Germany was already in recession before things became more strained with the USA. An additional blow to German household budgets came in the form of trade wars and general uncertainty, which can be seen reflected in German bookings for the upcoming summer tourist season.
Germany is the first source market for Croatian tourism, and the sight of German tourists all over the Croatian coast is normal each summer. It’s been that way for decades, and therefore any alterations are typically very much felt. In 2024, the German media space was full of articles about the high cost of living in the newly coined “expensive Croatia”. Germany used to account for a quarter of Croatia’s tourism turnover, but last year it fell by six to seven percent. Prices have stabilised to some degree this year, so hopefully they should no longer play such a negative role, at least in the context of media coverage.
Back in 2023, Mediterranean destinations regained their share in the total volume of tourist travel on that market, and Croatia recorded a two percent drop in arrivals from the German market compared to 2022. However, Croatia maintained figures higher than those recorded during pre-pandemic 2019. It’s also interesting to note that two years ago, for the first time, air travel to Croatia from Germany overtook car travel. When it comes to this year, it’s clear to everyone that German tourists, will be very careful about how much their summer holiday will cost them, particularly on the Croatian coast.
a later easter helped, but we can’t relax just yet
The pre-season has started very well across Croatia, which was helped by the late Easter, but also by the fact that travel is cheaper in the pre-season than during peak season. A segment that is very important for the pre- and post-season is organised bus transport. Croatia, as a partner country, and Kvarner as a partner region, presented themselves at the recently held 50th RDA Group Travel Expo 2025 fair in Cologne.
The pre-season figures are very encouraging, especially when it comes to German tourists on the Croatian coast and how that might go this year. Across Croatia, around 550,000 overnight stays were realised by German guests in April, which is an increase of more than 50 percent compared to last April. Regarding the situation on the German market, it can be said that Croatia is perceived extremely positively despite constantly circulating headlines about high prices.
german tourists are rational spenders
The above has been confirmed by the demand for Croatian destinations, which remains at a high level. Of course, the state of sales and reservations varies depending on the individual tour operator, the type of accommodation and the season. Overall, tourism workers stated that it can be concluded that sales results are moving towards higher figures than last year. Positive trends are being recorded from the German market, and in the first four months of this year, Germans achieved more than 717,000 overnight stays, which is a 10 percent increase compared to last year.
Traditionally, German tourists from the southern German provinces are the most oriented to the northern Croatian coast. Excellent results were achieved over the extended Easter weekend, and reservations for June, which includes the Pentecost holidays in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, are also going well. Germans aren’t giving up on travelling – despite all the crises and economic challenges their country currently faces. Clearly, Germans are proverbially rational when it comes to spending. In that same vein, the logic of “value for money” in the case of German tourists will carry a lot of weight this summer on the Croatian coast.
