March the 17th, 2026 – Norwegian media has showered praise Croatia, claiming that the the country will be this year’s tourism winner, alongside neighbouring Italy.
As Index/Slobodan Mufic writes, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has brought a lot of uncertainty to the whole European tourism sector. Any escalation and instability encourages tourists to be cautious, because tourism and travel primarily depend on the perception of peace and security. However, judging by what the Nordic media has been publishing in recent days, Croatia will suffer the least damage in the upcoming season. It might even cash in.
The Norwegian commercial television TV 2 has reported on data from the travel search engine FINN Reise and writes that interest in trips to Dubai has fallen by almost 80% in the last ten days. Interest in Cyprus is 47% weaker, and Greece has even suffered a blow, with interest falling by 26%. Searches for holiday offers in Turkey are also 48% down. It is quite understandable that Norwegians have more or less totally lost interest in travelling to anywhere even close to an active war zone.
istria – a cradle of safety
“Geopolitical circumstances are affecting Norwegians’ summer holiday plans. Tourists’ attention is being diverted to other areas. Spain and Greece continue to enjoy the highest traffic, but the big winners this summer will be Italy and Croatia,” Nora Vigen Stabell, a spokesperson for the aforementioned search engine, told TV2.no, adding that the two countries are considered to be exceptionally safe destinations. This speaks volumes about just how Norwegian media is publicising Croatia and tourism this year, and it’s particularly important given the fact that Scandinavian tourists are known to have deeper pockets on average.
The article, illustrated with a glossy photo of Rovinj and captioned “The idyllic Istria peninsula in Croatia is one of the many places Norwegians want to go this summer,” further states that flights by traditional airlines such as SAS will become more expensive due to rising fuel prices. They added that this is an opportunity for low-cost companies such as Ryanair and EasyJet to offer much more competitive travel options.
Tourism analysts recommend paying for tourist trips as early as possible and point out that fuel accounts for close to a third of all airline operating costs. The text also states that Norwegian travellers traditionally plan and book summer breaks around Easter, and do so about two weeks in advance.
Closing the airspace and disrupting traffic at Middle Eastern airports such as Dubai and Doha is not in anyone’s interest, as it will make travel to Southeast Asia far more difficult and expensive. Mediterranean destinations could still profit as many Europeans will forgo long-distance travel and stay within their own continent.
the danish and finnish appetite for croatia is growing
Croatia could quite easily take advantage of this, provided it isn’t perceived as an overpriced destination. In a text from a few days ago, the Danish portal B.T. pointed out immediately that Croatia is the favourite tourist destination of many Danes, but added that recently “another Balkan nation has attracted interest”.
According to the TUI agency, the number of travel reservations to neighbouring Montenegro increased by as much as 91% compared to last year. There’s a similar level of interest among Danish tourists in nearby Albania. “The younger generation of Danes wants a travel experience during which they don’t know in advance exactly what to expect. They therefore like to travel more and more often to destinations that are somewhat less known,” writes B.T.
The Finns are also not enthusiastic about travelling to countries close to the conflict zone, such as Turkey and Cyprus, and have started to cancel reservations to a significant extent, writes the tabloid Iltalehti. Travel agencies Tjäreborg and TUI are also recording an increase in interest in Croatia, Albania and Montenegro, and Greece and the Spanish resorts of Alicante and Mallorca are also traditionally doing well.
deep nordic pockets
It should be noted that in 2025, Nordic markets accounted for only about 3% of all tourist overnight stays recorded in Croatia. In total, about 600,000 people arrived in the country from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, who realised approximately 3.2 million overnight stays. According to data from the Croatian National Tourist Board for 2025, the most arrivals were recorded from Germany (3.1 million), Slovenia (1.7 million), Austria (1.6 million) and Poland (1.2 million).
However, the increased interest of Nordic tourists in visiting Croatia may be a very good indicator of the general situation as far as tourism is concerned in major markets. Nordic guests in Croatia are also among the above-average consumers. According to some research, they spend about 50% more than the average of all tourists, mostly on food and drinks, excursions and all kinds of additional activities.
