A slow-down in bookings in early March registered abroad for Croatian destinations does not necessarily mean a weaker season overall but it is a great challenge for the tourism sector that expects some partners to offer discounts for certain periods in the year in order to fill capacities particularly in May and September, according to first assessments coming from the ITB travel trade show in Berlin.
The 53rd ITB opened on Wednesday attracting more than 10,000 exhibitors from over 180 countries including Croatia, which is being promoted by the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) and 20 more exhibitors - tourism companies and tourism boards at one stand.
There are also an additional ten Croatian exhibitors with their own stands including the Atlas and Adriatica.net Group, the City of Zadar and Zadar County, City of Split and Split-Dalmatia County and others. This year the City of Rijeka has its own stand promoting the European Capital of Culture 2020 project.
Southern Europe, where Croatia is located, has been experiencing changing trends in demand due to Turkey's return (on the market), which has recorded a current increase in bookings from Germany by more than 50% compared to the same period last year. However, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia are on a good route and due to group tours by Chinese and other tourists from distant markets. It is unclear still what Italy intends to do this year with bookings also decelerating. Due to a drop in bookings for Spain, that country has already announced actions and I believe that because of its uniqueness in the Mediterranean, Croatia will be able to fare well even without any discounts, the head of the European Travel Agents' and Tour Operators' Associations-ECTAA Michel de Blust said, after talks with Croatian exhibitors.
Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli and HTZ director Kristjan Stanicic met with Sven Gorrissen, TUI Germany's manager for Croatia and Austria who told reporters that TUI was not concerned for this season in Croatia adding that he had noticed that this year guests were paying more attention to price.
In the situation when Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and Greece are strongly approaching the German and other markets with strong marketing and popular prices, it is difficult not to expect Croatia to lower its prices or to offer discounts for certain periods in the year when interest is a little weaker.
We see that for May and September Croatian hotels and other providers need to consider discounts of 10% to 15% if they want to be competitive and be fully occupied, Gorrissen said.
HTZ's director for Germany, Romeo Dragicchio said that bookings for Croatia were better than for other countries and that partners in Germany had not complained about prices and in fact the most expensive accommodations were recording the highest bookings.
He added that tourists from northern Germany were showing an increased interest in Croatia with the introduction of new air routes and that at least ten new routes from Germany would be introduced this year. (Hina)
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