As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, proving to be the only choice for coronavirus travel for Croatian guests, destinations in continental Croatia during the pandemic were given a unique opportunity to be promoted live on the local market. They were also provided with the chance to finally impose themselves as an equal player in national tourism policy and promotion.
This year, and especially in 2022, which could be much more upbeat for tourism, they plan to capitalise on Slavonia tourism, which has been promoted for years as a joint cluster on the foreign market, and since last year they have been together here on the domestic market. Their goal is guests who are looking for much more than sun and sea when on holiday.
This was revealed by Rujana Busic Srpak, director of the Vukovar-Srijem County Tourist Board and the coordinator of the Slavonia tourist cluster, into which five counties in eastern Croatia joined last year through an informal association.
“Our goal is to more strongly recognise ¨green Croatia¨ on both domestic and foreign markets, areas that do not have the sea to boast of but have so much else to offer, providing real value for money to travellers who are looking for such an offer, and their number has increased due to these new circumstances.
This year we´re still addressing the domestic market, made up of people who were more or less unable to travel abroad, and it what we have to offer and what it is worth returning to has finally been given the spotlight. As soon as the pandemic subsides, we will invest more in the promotion of Slavonia tourism across foreign markets that have great potential, but we will need more help from the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) and travel organisers, because our advertising budgets are very limited,¨ explained Busic Srpak.
She also pointed out that 2020 brought completely new trends in travel to Slavonia, with the biggest growth in the otherwise dead season – in the first few months of the year, and in the summer when only her county achieved 68 percent of the traffic they saw back in pre-pandemic, record 2019. Papuk Nature Park recently announced that the winter saw 300 percent more guests arrive than came last winter, which prompted them to invest in a new toboggan run.
“When it comes to domestic guests, in addition to showing them what we offer, a good part of our task is to break the prejudice that everything east of Zagreb or far away has tied to it, or the social case, which is that the area is underdeveloped. Foreign markets are looking for a different promotion than the just the Croatian Adriatic, partly because a good part of our guests come by the Danube. As such, river cruisers are on an upward trend, and we traditionally attract guests from Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, but also the USA and even Australia.
In the French market, Slavonia tourism promotions were realised in cooperation with the Croatian National Tourist Board representation there, and a more intensive presentation for the British market was planned in 2020. However, it seems that things will hang on a bit and wait for the overall launch of foreign promotional activities,¨ said Busic Srpak.
A good part of the year is already behind us, and things are still being decided on a weekly basis, there is a lot of uncertainty and that is why the view of the Slavonia cluster is focused more on 2022. Thematic packages are currently being designed for agencies that will sell it.
The informal association of five county tourist boards from Slavonia was accompanied by a strategic plan until 2025, on the basis of which projects and joint packages are nominated – Slavonia wants to use the strength of the Croatian brand, but also its own strengths. Slavonia tourism has infrastructure, about 2100 tourist beds that need to be filled first, then we can think about building new ones, this sort of thing is partly funded by the EU.
“The support system in Croatian tourism should be focused on underdeveloped areas that need support in order to strengthen their market position(s) and thus strengthen the destination itself. The development of underdeveloped areas should be our goal, but according to the criteria of quality and importance for the overall development of the destination,¨ concluded Busic Srpak.
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