Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli talks investments, numbers and the desire for year-round tourism in Croatia.
As Poslovni Dnevnik reports on the 15th of August, 2017, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli visited Crikvenica on Monday to tour the recently constructed Esplanade hotel, stating that tourism results prove that his estimates from February and March were correct, based on the analysis and reports of the tour operators and airlines, there is about a double-digit growth in tourist traffic.
He expressed satisfaction with the increase of tourist traffic in hotels, pointing out that hotels operate longer throughout the year than family accommodation does, partly thanks to their additional amenities, thus contributing to the pursuit of year-round tourism.
He also noted that there was an investment of 800 million euros in the construction and ”doing up” of more than 40 hotels, mostly those who have four or five stars.
Cappelli emphasised the paramount importance of respective destinations being managed locally and that such a move is based on local tourism development strategies. He called on cities that have not yet come up with a strategy to do so, pointing out that those who thought about this and dealt with these issues 10 or 15 years ago now welcome large numbers of tourists.
“There are cities in which you don’t hear about summer crowds or inadequate numbers of parking places. On the other hand, there are those who are now dissatisfied because their tourist capacities are not aligned with the regulation of infrastructure,” Cappelli said.
”The reduction of traffic jams with a parallel increase in traffic through airports is expected in two to three years thanks to the joint advertising campaigns and activities of the Croatian Tourist Board which are aimed at increasing the number of airline passengers,” he said.
At the request of a journalist to comment on the analysis in Slovenia which apparently shows that Slovenes are increasingly visiting Croatia, Cappelli said that the number of Slovenian guests grew at an annual rate of five percent.
”We consider them to be important guests, they are the closest to us [geographically] and they understand the market, they use all kinds of capacities [accommodation], and they come several times a year,” he said.
Excerpts taken and translated from Poslovni.hr
