WTM: Croatia has good standing on British tourist market, more flights needed

​Croatia has a good standing on the British tourist market and the positive trends are expectd to continue next year, with a focus on arranging new cooperation, notably for flights in the shoulder seasons, Croatian Tourist Board director Kristjan Staničić said at World Travel Market London on Monday.

WTM London, as the world largest tourism event, is taking place from 6 to 8 November, with thousands of exhibitors from all over the world participating and arranging new deals and cooperation, estimated by the organisers to be worth about seven million dollars.

Croatia and its tourist businesses, communities, companies, destinations and carriers are showcasing themselves, and about 20 of them are co-exhibitors at the stand of the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ), located in the Europe halls, together with other Mediterranean countries, including Italy, Spain and Greece, the favourite destinations of the British. This year, Bosnia and Herzegovina is also participating, for the first time, showcasing itself as a country, especially the areas around Sarajevo, Herzegovina and others.

Rising number of British travellers visit Croatia

This year by the end of October, 755,000 tourists arrived in Croatia from the British market, and they generated 3.7 million overnight stays, which was 5% and 1% more than in 2022, respectively, but the numbers have still not reached their values from 2019. Nearly half of the annual turnover is generated in Dubrovnik-Neretva and Split-Dalmatia counties due to the highest number of flights, and mostly during the summer, while Zagreb is visited by British tourists all year round.

Nearly all tour operators and airlines we spoke to at WTM announced a rise in traffic from Great Britain to Croatia in 2024, such as TUI, EasyJet and other, and we stressed to all of them that we want to strengthen traffic outside the summer months, as well. We can remain optimistic about that market for now, said Staničić.

Although the British are facing inflation and other economic challenges, they have still not given up holiday travel. Croatia is still a destination with good value for money in that market.

Most of the Croatian exhibitors at WTM are satisfied with the British market, especially in the Adriatic region, and also in Osijek-Baranja County, whose HTZ director Ivana Jurić told Hina how important Ryanair's flights to and from Osijek in the spring and summer were important, having been 94% full.

We hope to continue this cooperation because the British market brings us a lot, and interest is growing in visiting Baranja and the whole of Slavonia. They are most interested in bird watching in the Kopački Rit nature park, gastronomy, the way of life and socialising with local people, who they perceive, together with the area, they tell us, as "authentic Croatia", said Jurić.

(Hina)

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