Nearly a million euros is expected to be invested in the Croatian tourism industry this year, which is 15 percent more than last year and 40 percent more than in 2016, and most of the investment will go towards 4- and 5-star hotels, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said on Thursday. Cappelli was speaking at the start of the 24th international conference "Tourism and Hospitality Industry 2018: Trends and Challenges", organised by the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in the northern Adriatic town of Opatija.
The minister said that Croatia was never better ranked on the world tourism map and that tourism was important for the whole national economy. He said that 2017 was a record tourist year and that 2018 got off to a good start with double-digit increases in the numbers of tourist arrivals and overnight stays.
"A considerable portion of the government's objectives in tourism have been realised, Croatia is a hit destination, but it needs to strengthen its position in global tourism," Cappelli said.
Stressing the importance of investments and innovations in the hotel sector, Cappelli said that under the strategy for tourism development by 2020, about 2 billion kuna would be invested in the construction of new hotels and new hotel facilities.
Hotels generate 24 percent of all overnight stays, and according to the latest survey, visitors stay in hotels six to seven days on average and their daily spending is 55 percent higher than that by visitors staying in other accommodation facilities.
Speaking of a labour shortage in the tourist industry, Cappelli said that one of the developmental goals was to adjust the national education system to the tourism and hospitality industry, adding that his ministry had earmarked 500 million kuna for the development of regional centres of competence.
(EUR 1 = HRK 7.4)
(Hina)
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