March the 17th, 2025 – Is Lika set to play a far greater role in Croatian tourism going forward? If the level of interest from the ITB Berlin tourism fair is anything to go by, then the answer is a resounding yes.
As Novi List/Edi Prodan writes, the huge ITB tourism fair in Berlin is one of the most important such events in the entire world. As a country so heavily reliant on foreign tourism, it’s only natural that Croatia played a notable role in the German fair that is a staple for global tourism each year. Lika was of particular interest in terms of the Croatian tourism of the future.
As part of the central Croatian area, exhibitors at the fair included the beautiful Lika-Senj County Tourist Board and Croatia’s oldest and largest national park, Plitvice Lakes. It shouldn’t come as much of a shock that both of these stands attracted a lot of attention from visitors to the fair.
It is important to point out that Berlin’s ITB tourism fair is a B2B model, meaning that it isn’t the type of tourism fair attended by “ordinary” visitors, but exclusively by people who create global trends in tourism.
According to official indicators, there were more than 100,000 such people present in the German capital. Since the most important idea of today’s tourism is sustainability, the chronically overlooked but gorgeous area of Lika has become the very centre of their interest, and may be a main player in the Croatian tourism of the future.
It is well known that the entire Lika area is networked with stunning national parks, nature parks and protected landscapes. To large extent, Lika is an area of pristine natural quality and Croatian tourism will likely turn more and more of its attention to this green region.
The Director of the Lika-Senj County Tourist Board Ivan Radošević participated in many conversations, as well as in the ceremonies of receiving a series of awards that went to Lika. As has already been pointed out, the value of Plitvice Lakes National Park were also very noticeable. The park’s team was led by Iva Jurašin, Head of Marketing and Sales.
“Sustainability has been the main guideline that we’ve been guided by since our existence. When it comes to modern tourism that fits into the endlessly preserved nature, we’ve been working hard to raise the quality of the offer. Our hotels are being renovated in order for them to be able to receive the highest possible status, and we are also working hard to raise the quality of our gastronomic offer,” Jurašin revealed.
The traditional Lika hospitality and the safety of the area has always been a draw for people across Croatia and indeed from Germany and Austria, but it seems a much bigger role to play lies ahead of this beautiful region. It can now be believed that Lika is almost an ideal model of Croatian tourism of the future, and the ITB fair only further confirmed this.
