A record year for Croatian tourism.
According to data from eVisitor which includes tourist traffic realized in commercial and non-commercial facilities and nautical charter (eCrew), Croatia recorded 2.1 million arrivals (+7 percent) and 12 million overnight stays (+4 percent) in September.
Thus, from January to September this year, Croatia recorded 17 million arrivals (+13 percent) and 97.2 million overnight stays (+12 percent), reports the Ministry of Tourism on October 2, 2017.
These results confirm the previous announcements by Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli and Director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić that Croatian tourism will achieve 100 million overnight stays for the first time.
“The data of this record-breaking tourist year is the result of quality preparations, thoughtful marketing activities, an increasing number of quality tourist offers and the cooperation of all stakeholders in tourism. I believe that positive trends will continue until the end of the year and that we will once again confirm that Croatia today is one of the most popular tourist destinations, attracting more and more guests for all parts of the year. Our future success is based on continuous quality improvement and sustainable development. Each destination is part of Croatia’s complete tourism story and therefore it is imperative to plan and think at all levels in the long run so that tourism can continue to develop and stimulate the economic development of all communities in the future,” said Minister Cappelli.
Director Staničić emphasized the excellent results achieved in traditionally strong markets.
“Most tourists traditionally come from Germany; however, it is a huge market where there is still great potential. Therefore, we are extremely pleased to have achieved these results so far, as, for the first time in history, the German market reached 2.6 million arrivals. The stated result represents a 16 percent increase for the first nine months, and the continuation of positive trends is expected for future periods. We also have great results in other markets, and we already have six markets that have made over 5 million overnight stays, namely Slovenia, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Italy.”
Septemeber 2017 at a glance
Out of the total number of arrivals and overnight stays in September, foreign tourists realized 1.9 million arrivals (+8 percent) and 10.7 million overnight stays (+4 percent), while domestic tourists recorded an increase of 13 percent in overnight stays. Most of the overnight stays were realized in Istria County (3.4 million overnight stays), Split-Dalmatia County (2.4 million overnight stays) and Kvarner County (2 million overnight stays). Zadar County follows (1.4 million overnight stays), then Dubrovnik-Neretva County (1.2 million overnight stays), Šibenik-Knin County (840,000 overnight stays), Lika-Senj (269,000 overnight stays) and Zagreb County (242,000 overnight stays). On the continent, not including the city of Zagreb, there were 198,000 overnight stays (6 percent increase), and most of the overnight stays were realized in Karlovac County (60,000 overnight stays).
Most of the overnight stays were made by tourists from Germany (3.3 million overnight stays), Austria (1.1 million overnight stays), Slovenia (845,000 overnight stays), the United Kingdom (733,000 overnight stays) and Poland (700,000 overnight stays). Of the total number of overnight stays, most of them were realized in hotels, household facilities, and camps, while nautical charter recorded 620,000 overnight stays (+10 percent).
Looking at the period from January to September this year, foreign tourists realized 15.3 million arrivals (+14 percent) and 86.2 million overnight stays (+12 percent), while domestic tourists recorded a growth of 8 percent in arrivals and 13 percent in overnight stays. From January to September, most of the overnight stays were realized in Istria, Split-Dalmatia County, and Kvarner, followed by Zadar County, Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Šibenik-Knin County, Lika-Senj County, and Zagreb County.
Income from tourism in the first half of 2017
According to Croatian National Bank (HNB) data, tourism revenues amounted to EUR 2 billion and EUR 728 million, representing a growth of 11.6 percent compared to the same period last year (EUR 2 billion and EUR 443 million), or EUR 285 million.
“The realized income of foreign guests in the first half of the year indicates that the pre-season is increasingly important for Croatian tourism and can stimulate the entire Croatian economy. Much of the contribution to these results can indeed be given to the rise in many new airlines. To enable the development of year-round tourism, we would like to further position Croatia as an aviation destination, and I am sure that this plan, in the first half of the next tourist year, will show the results of our past activities,” concluded Minister Cappelli.
Excerpts are taken from Ministry of Tourism
