A very good year for tourism in Croatia, including Central Istria.
During the first nine months of this year, the Žminj Tourist Board in central Istria recorded an increase in the number of arrivals by 14.61 percent, and an increase in the number of overnight stays by 16.37 percent. In that period, there were 5,249 arrivals and 49,820 overnight stays, which means that the average tourist in Žminj stayed an average of 9.5 days, reports Glas Istre on October 4, 2015.
By country of origin, tourists predominantly came from Germany, which represented more than 61 percent of all tourists. Austria took the second place with 7 percent of tourists, so more than two thirds of the tourists came from German-speaking countries. They were followed by tourists from Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, France and Italy.
“In the Žminj area, we currently have 134 accommodation facilities, mostly holiday homes, apartments and rooms. In total, there are more than 650 tourist beds”, said Lenka Šajina from the Žminj Tourist Board, adding that new facilities are continuously being added. “People are increasingly working on raising the quality of their rentals, not only by building swimming pools, but also by adding other features: saunas, rent-a-bike programs, gym equipment and so on. We even have a five-star holiday home – Villa Murva”, said Šajina.
“The guests are predominantly families with children, as well as married couples in the off season. Since Žminj in located at an ideal location, everything is close to tourists: banks, post offices, supermarkets, bakeries, butcher shops, restaurants, pizzerias. The only thing we don’t have is a gift shop! But, due to the increasing number of tourists in our area, I am certain someone will open it very soon”, said Šajina.
Guests are mostly interested in the Feštinsko Kraljevstvo cave, frescoes in the churches of St. Anthony the Abbot and St. Trinity, the old town, local cuisine, cheese tasting at Orbanići, monthly fairs and bicycle routes. In case of bad weather, they are interested in tourist attractions in other parts of Istria.
“Therefore, we always try to gather as much information and leaflets about events from the whole Istria as possible so that our guests can get the necessary information. We are doing everything we can to continue the existing traditional events, and to create new ones. Old events are being freshen up with some new ideas. This year, we have published a booklet in three languages, we have started working on a new website, and in October we will start a German course for people renting accommodation facilities to tourists”, added Šajina.
“This year, we have been sold out for 21 weeks, 6 weeks more than last year. We are satisfied, since every season is at least a little better than the previous one”, said Helena Vrtačić who manages Villa Vidulinka. She added that the majority of guests arrive from Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, but this year they had several groups of Norwegians and Swedes as well.
