UHPA assembly held on tourism in 2022 and 2023

Travel agencies are an essential part of the success in 2022, it was said at the regular annual assembly of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies (UHPA), which brought together representatives of agencies from all over Croatia and partners from institutions, on Thursday in Zagreb.

Addressing the event, Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said that  €600,000 has been earmarked for cooperation with travel agencies as destination management companies and for the development of tourism in underdeveloped tourism areas for 2023.

UHPA president, Tomislav Fain, underscored that UHPA now has the same number of members as in 2019, about 230 agencies. Despite all the challenges, they managed to work this year at almost total capacity to generate physical and financial figures close to or more than in 2019.

"The year was good. We worked hard, which makes us very happy after two pandemic years that many agencies would not have survived without the Ministry's and government's assistance. However, for a full recovery and restoration of pre-pandemic levels, agencies will need a few more years because of the loans they took to survive and maintain their business," Fain said.

He also informed the assembly about the recent meeting of ECTAA (European Association of Travel Agencies) in Greece, where everyone told him that they were "envious of Croatia for achieving results similar to 2019." Fain underlined this did not happen by chance but as a result of solid cooperation between the public and private sectors in tourism and beyond.

Everyone agreed that 2023 is uncertain due to the economic crisis, which can be reflected in less spending for vacations and even lower demand. However, since Croatia will enter both the euro and Schengen areas on 1 January 2023, everyone believes that it will be a boost for the tourist industry, and it will make travelling to Croatia from European markets easier and faster. (Hina/FaH)

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