Croatia reports record tourism figures for 2017

Last year 18.5 million tourists visited Croatia and generated 102 million overnight stays, which are increases of 13 percent and 12 percent respectively compared with 2016, and revenues are expected to exceed those from the previous year, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli told a press conference in Zagreb on Monday. "We expect revenues for 2017, from both domestic and foreign tourists, to reach about 11 billion kuna. We are also pleased that the Fitch ratings agency has noted the excellent results of the tourist season, along with the stability of the economy, as one of the reasons for increasing Croatia's rating after many years," Cappelli said.

He noted that with 8.7 billion euros earned in the first nine months of 2017 Croatia already surpassed the total revenue from foreign tourists made in 2016.

Cappelli said that Istria, central Dalmatia and the Kvarner region recorded the highest turnovers and that all continental regions except Virovitica-Podravina County saw increases in the volume of tourist trade. The most numerous foreign tourists were Germans and Slovenians.

"Domestic tourists were actually second between the most numerous Germans and Slovenians with over two million arrivals or eight percent growth, which shows that the domestic tourist market is awakening. As for foreign tourists, we recorded major increases from Britain and the US, of 20 and 30 percent, as well as from the Far East, such as China, Australia and other countries, which is certainly partly due to the launch of direct flights between Zagreb and Dubai," the minister said.

Dubrovnik and Rovinj were the top destinations in 2017 with the largest number of overnight stays recorded, and Cappelli said that 25 percent of the overnight stays were generated on the islands. He also noted large increases in the number of tourist arrivals (+17%) and overnight stays (+16%) in the off season.

"This year we expect a further increase in the volume of tourist trade of between five and seven percent, a rise in investment of about 15 percent, and a lot more air carriers and foreign tour operators' programmes for Croatia," Cappelli said.

The director general of the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ), Kristijan Stanicic, announced increased marketing activities for this year, saying that the HTZ would attend 26 travel shows and earmark 30 million kuna for joint advertising campaigns with partners from Croatia and abroad, 56 million kuna for general advertising and 15.3 million kuna for PR activities on the markets.

(1 euro = 7.45 kuna)

(Hina)

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