The numbers would be even greater if it weren’t for the limited capacity of Split Airport
In 2016, Croatia can expect around 560 000 tourists from Great Britain, or 50 000 more than this year. These are the preliminary numbers, and considering all flight and tour operators have expanded their Croatian programmes, we are pretty sure those numbers are on the right track.
According to Slobodna Dalmacija, UK market is showing most interest for Split and Dubrovnik, and in 2016, it is expected first guests from the UK will head towards the Adriatic as early as the end of March because Easter holidays are very early in 2016. New surveys also show they will be spending more than they did in 2015 when they spend 39 billion pounds on travel.
Feedback after the first day of the World Travel Market currently taking place in London: partners are most interested in hotel accommodation in Dalmatia, and UK guests are planning on spending 125 pounds per day. Split Dalmatia County is an absolute hit, everyone is asking about it, and the only problem so far is the very limited capacity of the Split airport, otherwise, the number of flights would be significantly higher than it is at the moment. All airlines are looking for free time slots for flights to Split, especially for the weekends, Easy Jet will have the same number of weekly flights as in 2015 while British Airways will double their London – Split flights to 4 per week because the interest for Split Dalmatia County is not decreasing, 39% more British tourists visited this county in 2015 than tin the year before. Croatia is the 17th most popular holiday destination in the UK, and in the last 5 years we have more than doubled the number of UK tourists – said Tonko Rilović, HTZ director for the UK market. Spain is still their No. 1 travel destination (12 million), followed by France (8,8 million).
Boris Žgomba, president of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies commented on Croatia’s position in the UK market: „ I am concerned that the number tour operator programmes in Croatia is not increasing enough, those programmes are a great way to extend the season. UK travellers are very sensitive when it comes to safety and security and some partners here in London are asking if we have a problem with refugees and migrants. Currently the situation is very good and calm, but I am very worried about possible escalation – Žgomba stated.
Croatian Minister of Tourism Darko Lorencin who is also currently in London at the WTM says that all questions regarding the migrant and refugee crisis have a positive answer because everyday life has not been disrupted in Croatia because of the refugee crisis and there is absolutely no reason to worry about it possibly affecting our tourist season.
