​Croatian tourism presented at FITUR tourism fair in Madrid

Spaniards like to travel a lot and discover new destinations which is an opportunity for Croatia to utilise also because of the scope of the Spanish market and therefore the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ) intends to open an office in Madrid, Director Kristjan Stanicic said on Wednesday at the 40th edition of the FITUR.

FITUR, the largest tourism fair in Spain with 165 countries attending, is running from 22 to 26 January and the HTZ and some ten other exhibitors are presenting Croatia's tourist sector at the show..

They all expect positive trends from the Spanish market and forecast that there will be a growth of 10% in tourism compared to 2019.

Tour operators and partners in Spain who talked to Stanicic and Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli also expect positive trends to continue this year.

Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Split, Zadar, Hvar and Plitvice Lakes are the most sought-after destinations in Croatia for Spaniards. This year we plan to additionally improve our network of branch offices by opening a branch in Madrid particularly since leading international tourist institutions have their main offices here, said Stanicic.

He informed that last year, 315,000 Spaniards visited Croatia and generated more than 708,000 bednights, which is an increase of 10% compared to 2018.

Minister Cappelli said that Spain and France were the forerunners in the UNWTO Programme for sustainable tourism, which is being implemented in cooperation with governments, destinations and tourism companies in an effort to reduce the impact of tourism on the environment, which is an important presumption for Croatia's future tourism policy.

"We are using this visit to Madrid to exchange experiences in conducting a policy of sustainable development which is the the linchpin of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the EU in the field of tourism. The experiences and examples of good practice we exchanged with leading tourism authorities and officials will be of great benefit in preparing a new national strategy for tourism development which will be based on quality, responsible and sustainable business with the use of modern technology as creative solutions for the future," Cappelli underlined.

HTZ informed that Spaniards usually travel to foreign countries by plane and each year direct flight connections between Span and Croatia are being improved particularly during the summer timetable.

FITUR introduces itself as a "global meeting point for tourism professionals and the leading trade fair for inbound and outbound markets in Latin America."

"At its  staging, FITUR broke all previous participation records with 10,487 companies from 165 countries and regions, 142,642 trade visitors and 110,848 visitors from the general public,"according to the information provided on the fair's website.

Tourist trade between Croatia and Spain to be improved by new air routes, future HTZ office in Madrid

Croatia is a popular travel destination in Spain, and tourist trade might rise with the opening of the Croatian National Tourism Board (HTZ) office in Madrid this year and with the introduction of new air routes, Croatian Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli said on Tuesday.

During his official visit to Spain, Cappelli met his Spanish counterpart Maria Reyes Maroto Illera. The meeting at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism in Madrid was also attended by Croatia's Ambassador to Spain, Nives Malenica, the Croatian Ministry of Tourism said in a statement.

On that occasion, Capelli presented Croatia's European Commission Presidency priorities in the tourism sector, including advocating policies for responsible and sustainable development with  emphasis on encouraging diversification of tourism supply and development of areas with underdeveloped tourism.

He emphasised the importance of using information and communication technologies, the digitisation of the tourism system, and of establishing a common EU regulation for digital platforms providing tourist services.

In addition, he presented Croatia's initiative for establishing an EU tourism brand for the joint promotion of member states on distant markets, inviting Spain to join the initiative and support a more favourable positioning of tourism within EU policies and institutions. Cappelli emphasised the importance of cooperation in absorbing EU funds for developing small and medium-sized tourism enterprises.

It was also pointed out that Croatia is a popular tourist destination in Spain, as confirmed by figures: in 2019, compared with 2018, there was an 8.4% increase in the number of tourists from Spain and a 10.4% increase in overnight stays made by Spanish tourists.

"I believe that the tourist exchange will grow further with this year's reopening of the Croatian National Tourism Board office in Madrid. The office will be located within the Croatian Embassy, in order to cut costs. A very important factor in establishing an even stronger connection between the two countries is the direct flight connection, which is improving from year to year, and at this moment, during the winter timetable, there are three airlines flying three air routes between Croatia and Spain," said Cappelli, who expects a regular daily flight service between Zagreb and Madrid to be established in the future. (Hina)

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