Croatian travel agencies, Russian tour operators strengthening cooperation

Croatian travel agencies and Russian tour operators are enhancing their communication and cooperation in an effort to attract more Russian tourists to Croatia during the entire year, it was said at the signing of an agreement between the association of Croatian travel agencies (UPHA) and the association of Russian tour operators (ATOR) in the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ) headquarters on Thursday.

HTZ Director Ratomir Ivicic underscored the importance of Russian tourists for Croatian tourism and the value of cooperation between Croatian travel agencies and the Russian tourism industry, particularly since the number of Russian tourists visiting Croatia is once again starting to grow after several years of decline.

"In the first four months of the year, 21% more Russian tourists visited Croatia and generated 8.5% more overnight stays on the year. We believe that with stronger cooperation between tourism partners in the two countries the growth trend in that market will be maintained until the end of the year, which could mean more Russian tourists than last year, when 105,000 Russians visited Croatia," Ivicic said, adding that numbers from that market in May and June were good.

This agreement is a good platform for future cooperation particularly since the Russian tourist market is marked by air travel and depends on package arrangements that are in fact offered by travel agencies, and the aim is to increase the number of Russian tourists in autumn and winter, with events of the Advent season and health tourism being among the most important products in that part of the year, said Ivicic.

(Hina)