As Morski writes, the Republic of Croatia has just passed the peak of the height of the summer tourist season. Forecasts say that income from tourism could reach an enormous twelve billion euros, that is, it will exceed the previous record set back in pre-pandemic 2019 by at least 800 million euros. However, not everyone in tourism did equally well. Travel agencies aren’t keen on opening the champagne just yet. They’re not at 2019’s levels and for them, this season isn’t exactly a “record” one.
Among those specialising in “organised tourism”, this year also saw a major consolidation of the market. A major global player in the private accommodation segment recognised the potential of smaller renters, this was commented on by the president of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies, Tomislav Fain.
He said that tourists have arrived at various Croatian destinations as evidenced by the congestion on the roads and at the airports, adding that the post-season now stretches until November the 1st, which is the result of the work of both the public and private sectors.
Croatian numbers aren’t even close to accurate
”I’m extremely satisfied with the tourist season and we have a large number of guests here, however, the Croatian numbers that are displayed through eVisitor, which we have at our disposal, aren’t even close to being accurate. The actual numbers of guests are up to 40 percent higher because a large number weren’t even registered at all,” he pointed out.
”I don’t think any agency operating along the coast can possibly complain about July or August this year. Even if this year ends like 2019 did, we can’t forget that we had two years in which we worked at a mere 10 to 30 percent, and just one normal season isn’t enough for travel agencies to recover from what happened. In order to keep hold of our clients, property was sold, debt was incurred and it will take at least 4.5 years to recover,” he said.
”School trips are coming back, and as the situation was uncertain, everyone showed up at the last minute. At one point, we couldn’t respond to all the needs of the market. I hope that with the beginning of this school year it will also normalise. As for congress tourism, one part of that was completed in April and May, and in September and October, we can expect that additional boom in that regard,” Fain believes.
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