July 24, 2023 – The director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Kristijan Staničić, revealed the good and bad sides of this year’s tourist season in Croatia. A significant milestone was achieved: one million tourists in Croatia arrive per day.
“We exceeded one million guests a day. We have a continuity of stability of a slight increase in tourist traffic throughout the year, even now in July, and as long as the level of demand is positive, I think we’ll remain competitive in terms of prices. What I constantly appeal to is that it is important to offer tourists value for money. It is important that they get the highest possible quality of offer and service for the price they paid. In the end, the market always does its thing; that is, it regulates prices with supply and demand,” said Kristjan Staničić.
“Certainly, we need to consider a smart and thoughtful pricing policy for the future. Our internal analyzes have shown that we are very competitive, first of all, in the segment of private accommodation, and we are also competitive in hotel accommodation compared to competing countries in the Mediterranean. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that all other countries have also raised their prices and that inflation and input growth have taken their toll.”
“This year is the beginning of a turning point”
He believes that Croatia offers a great variety of hospitality, accommodation, and a variety of destinations. He also claims that part of the capacity in private accommodation is empty because the offer is 55,000 beds higher than last season and that it is high time to do something about it.
“I think this year is the beginning of a turning point in the future and a strategic reflection on tourism. We created a new strategic marketing plan. Last year, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports created a Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Tourism. It will all be rounded off by a new Tourism Act, which will provide new tools and instruments that will be available to everyone precisely in the direction of reflection and management of destinations in the future so that we do not end up in a situation where we have a boom in one segment of tourist accommodation. On the other hand, lead a future tourism policy toward sustainability and quality “, Staničić concluded.
Split Packed, results from best pre-pandemic years repeated
Stats for the peak of the season in the Split ferry port – 73 thousand passengers, 15 thousand vehicles, extraordinary departures. During the weekend, 215 planes with 57 thousand passengers landed and took off at the airport is the busiest in the country in summer.
“As for July, it is an indicator that we will achieve that record traffic again, we will exceed 700 thousand passengers in one month, and we will also pass 3 million tourists in Croatia by the end of this year,” announced Mate Melvan from Split Airport.
“We are doing very well with the numbers, but our priority is for guests to enjoy the destination more, to get value for money and to respect the lives of the local population,” said the director of TZ Split, Alijana Vukšić.
