June the 18th, 2025 – Despite previous concerns, there’s been a relieving 80% increase in German tourists in Croatia during the initial two weeks of June.
As Sinisa Malus/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, May’s results were wobbly and presented a somewhat gloomy picture of things to come, but the situation has vastly improved since. There was an 80% increase in German tourists in Croatia during the first two weeks of June, and now things are rising above those initial concerning expectations.
price adjustments
Those engaged in the Croatian tourism sector have claimed that these much more promising results are as they are owing to the more careful and quality approach of hoteliers who prepared favourable prices for June. In addition, it’s necessary to mention that the weather has been (a bit too) kind. The temperatures have been hotting up quickly, resulting in a slightly larger number of people opting to travel. This and more was recently presented by Tourism Minister Tonči Glavina. If this positive trend continues, it can easily be expected that June’s numbers will completely cancel out May’s shortcomings.
We can also thank the calendar for this, considering that June brought the Pentecost holiday, when Bavarians in particular travel a lot. It also seems that (despite the wider image created in the public) Croatia is still high on the German wish list. It’s now quite clear that it is difficult to expect new records from a country where its people are not used to economic woes like the type Germany is currently experiencing.
On top of all of the aforementioned, it doesn’t really make much sense to sit and compare tourism data with the same days last year. Public holidays and the like can often alter in terms of dates from year to year. That was evidenced this year when Croatia had a worse March, a better April, a worse May and now a far better June. Everyone consulted recently, including Željko Kukurin, President of the Valamar Management Board, has urged caution and said that the first real “transitional” time will only be the data for the first six months of 2025, which we’ll then be able to credibly compare with the first half of 2024.
“we still need to wait a few more weeks”
“So far, everything is in line with expectations, but it would still be worth waiting a few more weeks,” said Kukurin. Naturally, this 80% increase in German tourists visiting Croatia in the first half of June is reason to celebrate, but we shouldn’t count our eggs before they actually hatch.
“Tourist turnover is also strengthening, especially for hotels that have the least reason to worry about the outcome of a challenging tourist year. Hotels account for only 9.5% of Croatian tourism capacities, while competing countries across the rest of the Mediterranean have figures of 40% to 60%. Hotels are the type of accommodation that results in the highest added value and we need more new hotel capacities,” Veljko Ostojić, director of the Croatian Tourism Association, recently stated.
the last record number of german tourists in croatia was in 2022
A record number of visits from German tourists to Croatia was recorded back in 2022, when more than 3.4 million German tourists visited the country in those specific post-pandemic circumstances. Since then, the number has been gradually falling, stopping at just under 3.2 million last year.
During the first four months of this year, there were just over 175,000 visits realised by German tourists to Croatia, totalling 738,293 overnight stays. There were 1.2% fewer than in the same period last year, but in terms of overnight stays, they exceeded the first four months of 2024 by a somewhat significant 10%.
an increase in consumption
Although physical data is of course very important, everyone is typically deeply interested in the financial effects of tourism. According to new research carried out by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the Croatian travel and tourism sector will record strong growth this year. Current forecasts claim that it will contribute a massive 21.3 billion euros to the national economy this year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. It’s also been noted that the sector is still one of the country’s most powerful economic engines – by far. Foreign tourists in Croatia are predicted to spend 16.1 billion euros throughout the year, around one billion more than last year, or 6.9% more. Throughout 2025, foreign tourist spending is estimated to reach an enormous 19.6 billion euros, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
