PM, tourism minister: Results of tourist season so far excellent

The course of the 2023 tourist season so far is excellent, with 14.1 million travellers and 74.5 million overnight stays having been registered since the start of the year, 8% and 3% more than in the same period of 2022, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a government session on Thursday.

As for this year's pre-season, Plenković said that it was one of the best, having also positively affected destinations in the country's interior, which have reported 800,000 arrivals and 1.7 million overnight stays, 16% and 15% more than in 2022.

The prime minister also noted that the number of domestic visitors was 15% higher than in the same period of 2022, while the number of overnight stays made by those guests was the same as in 2022.

Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said after the government session that she was satisfied with the results of the tourist season and that the number of arrivals in August was the same as in August 2019 while in July it was 2% higher than in July 2019.

Asked by reporters if she thought that the results of the peak season were not as good as expected, she said that she did not and that the number of guests was the same as in 2019.

Brnjac believes the new tourism law will contribute to a larger number of hotels.

In a comment on reports that the increase in hotel prices in July was twice the inflation rate, Brnjac said hotel prices were now close to those in rival countries.

She added that hotels that had made investments had the right to increase their prices while those that had not but had increased their prices had no justification for it.

"It is difficult to say how price increases are related to occupancy during the peak season because hotels have good occupancy rates and are satisfied, and camping sites have better results than in 2019," she said.

Asked about a warning by the British authorities to British tourists visiting Croatia to beware of possible sexual assaults by taxi drivers, Brnjac said that Croatia was one of the safest EU countries, also according to Eurostat data.

"The Ministry of the Interior has been taking the necessary measures in cooperation with the Tourism Ministry, patrols and other services as well as other EU members, and I think there are no grounds (for the warning), but one should report any such incident," she said.

Brnjac also said that she had been in touch with his Greek counterpart following recent football fan violence in Athens involving Croatian and Greek football supporters in which a 29-year-old Greek was killed, and that she had expressed condolences to her.

(Hina)

News