June the 11th, 2025 – The new Local Host title was launched in Croatia less than a month ago. This new branding aims to highlight everything that is authentic, making a clear separation from the classic, bare bones “zimmerfrei” offer.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Radmila Kovacevic/VL writes, less than three weeks ago, the new Local Host project was introduced in Croatia. The title is supposed to “separate the wheat from the chaff” and further highlight the best of private accommodation. In that less than three week period, over 1,600 landlords who rent out their properties to tourists have applied for the Local Host title.
Hosts interested in being granted the new Local Host title in Croatia need to meet certain requirements. This new title which will be proudly placed as a plaque on their properties is a concrete guarantee that the accommodation unit in question nurtures all the best of what Croatian hosts have long been known and popular for. There are fourteen criteria that must be met – the hosts must present themselves to the guest as authentic, hospitable, communicative, educated and environmentally aware.
The most interested parties for the new Local Host title in Croatia are located in Istria, where the most requests have so far been received through the electronic tourist traffic monitoring system eVisitor. Istria is closely followed by hosts from Kvarner, Split-Dalmatia, Dubrovnik-Neretva and Zadar counties. Among the 50 or so applications received daily, the most tend to come from the cities of Rovinj, Dubrovnik, Crikvenica, Medulin and Pula.
“Istrian landlords have shown interest since the first day the Local Host title was introduced in Croatia,” revealed Lorena John, president of the Istrian Family Accommodation Association, adding: “There are too many apartments and holiday homes in Istria, the competition is fierce, not everyone is happy with how they’re filling up, and it’s normal that people are interested in anything that can help them stand out. Many simply don’t want to be in the same basket as uninteresting, typical properties with basic and average offers.”
The visibility of the Local Host project is improving every day across Croatia. The first phase of the accompanying campaign by the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) is currently underway, during which the new title is being promoted here on the domestic market through multiple media outlets. In the second phase, set to take place this autumn, the promotion of the Local Host title in Croatia will also begin on foreign markets.
This type of branding of private accommodation, which doesn’t cost the landlords any money, comes after the legal separation of actual hosts from “renters”. Only those who live in the county where their apartments or holiday homes are located can be granted the status of host and only they can compete for this designation. Renters, on the other hand, is the title for all other landlords who deal in short-term rentals to tourists. In total, there are about 657,000 beds in the so-called family accommodation sector, which is 52 percent of all of Croatia’s tourist capacities.
