News

The Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) will present the national tourism industry at several international travel shows this month, including those in Stuttgart, Utrecht, Vienna and Madrid. The CMT Holiday Exhibition in Stuttgart will take place on January 11-19, the Vakantiebeurs show in Utrecht is scheduled for January 14-19, the Ferienmesse fair in Vienna will be held on January 1619, and the FITUR show in Madrid is due on January 22-26. Croatia will also present its tourism potential at the BOOT boat show in Dusseldorf on January 18-26, and at a show in Leeuwarden, due to take place on January 23-28, which will focus on caravan and camping tourism. 

Revenues from visits of foreign tourists to Croatia in the first nine months of 2013 totalled EUR 6.59 billion, up 4.7% from the corresponding period in 2012, according to preliminary figures released by the Croatian National Bank (HNB). The HNB reports that the statistics indicate that revenues from foreign visits for the entire year 2013 are likely to exceed seven billion euros, for the first time since 2008. Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin believes that it is realistic to expect a rise in revenues from the tourism and hospitality industry in 2013 compared to 2012.

Croatia's current account surplus in the third quarter of 2013 was EUR 2.85 billion, or 9.1% higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year, while at the same time the surplus of current transactions rose by as many as 75% to EUR 1.13 billion, according to preliminary figures released by the Croatian National Bank (HNB) on Thursday. The central bank said that a current account surplus was usual for a third quarter as a result of a surplus in the services account, mostly due to a rise in tourism eevenue, and a sharp reduction of the deficit in the income account.

Croatia was among the top ten honeymoon destinations of 2013 in Google searches over the past year, ranking tenth, while New Zealand, Cancun and Maldives were the top three. The news was carried by The Huffington Post, one of the biggest news portals, saying the list may help all those seeking a special location for their honeymoon.Croatia is described as a "Mediterranean country, located across the Adriatic Sea from Italy," boasting "stunning beaches and plenty to explore, from ancient hill towns to secret gardens."

A leading global tour operator, TUI Travel PLC from the United Kingdom, is interested in an increase of travels from Great Britain to Croatia as well as in the entire tourist trade in Croatia and in accommodation capacities such as the Kupari resort complex near Dubrovnik, Croatian Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin said adding that Croatia is likely to invite, by the end of this month, non-binding bids for that once attractive military resort of five hotels and residential buildings in south Croatia which has been abandoned in the last 20 years and dilapidated. Speculating about the tender for that complex the media have been mentioning the American Hyatt hotel chain, the Valamar Group, which owns the Dubrovnik-Babin Kuk hotel company, the Turkish Rixos, which already owns the Rixos Libertas hotel in Dubrovnik, and Karisma Hotels Adriatic, a company consisting of the Karisma Resort International from Mexico, Croatia's Agrokor, and TUI Travel. The media have unofficially mentioned interest by investors from Qatar and the USA. In early August, the Azerbaijan Export & Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) advertised a call on its web site to investors for Kupari.

Considering the interest shown by British business partners, tour operators and airlines and tourists themselves, Croatian tourism could next year see a double digit increase in the number of British tourists travelling to Croatia, of perhaps 15% compared to this year or around 480,000. Croatia's Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin and the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) Meri Matesic announced their projections for next year's season at a press conference organised on Monday at the World Travel Market in London. The press conference attracted around 50 foreign, mostly British, journalists who heard of Croatia's plans and expectations from that country. Also presented were three types of olive oil from Istria which were selected by a British expert in oil tasting, Judy Ridgway who assessed that Croatia had some excellent oils with a specific taste which Britons are not familiar with as it is virtually not sold in that country.

The tourism forerunner in Croatia this year is the southern coastal town of Dubrovnik which has been proclaimed the best large destination on the Adriatic. Split has been proclaimed the best medium-sized destination and the best smallest destination is southern-most town of Cavtat while Zagreb has been awarded the best inland tourism destination. These are the results of the awards festival on Friday night marking the end of Croatian Tourism Days in Zadar with Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic handing over the award for the best destination, Dubrovnik. In his address Prime Minister Milanovic underscored that upon arriving to Zadar after attending an EU summit in Brussels, he had flown over Croatia and saw a beautiful country in the heart of Europe but also one of the most sparsely populated countries too. We have the resources it is up to us to use them, enhance them or to depreciate them, he said sending a message to the tourism sector that we can do twice as well than until now but even as it is, tourism is the only economic branch that Croatia can be measured by in the world. Revenue of EUR 7 billion, he said, could be said to be a little but what is important is that that revenue is growing and we are moving toward earning more from tourism.

A new strategic marketing plan for Croatian tourism in the 2014-2020 period is expected to be completed by the end of the year, the Director of the Head Office of the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ), Meri Matesic, and Assistant Tourism Minister Davor Izakovic said at a presentation held as part of Croatian Tourism Days in the coastal city of Zadar on Friday. The plan will define marketing tools and tactics, brands and the slogan of Croatian tourism and will be carried out by the HTZ, while the Ministry of Tourism, acting in cooperation with the tourist sector, will draft a bill to reorganise the system of local tourism boards with a view to creating destination management organisations (DMOs). The plan will be drawn up in cooperation with the HTZ by the firms THR and Horwath Consulting for HRK 4.5 million inclusive of VAT.