4.3 million tourists visit Croatia in August, September bookings excellent 

Dubrovnik

ZAGREB, 1 September 2021 – In August 2021, Croatia had 4.3 million arrivals and 30.7 million overnight stays, which is 59 percent more arrivals and 46 percent more overnight stays than in the same period last year, the Croatian National Tourist Board said on Wednesday. 

Foreign tourists realised 26.7 million overnight stays, while domestic tourists realised 4 million overnight stays, according to data from the eVisitor system, which contains tourist traffic in commercial and non-commercial facilities and nautical charter. 

Compared to the results of the record year of 2019, in August this year, 86 percent of arrivals and 93 percent of overnight stays from then were realised.

Most tourist overnight stays were in Istria (8.6 million), Split-Dalmatia (5.8 million) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (5.7 million). This is followed by Zadar (4.8 million overnight stays) Šibenik-Knin (2.3 million) and Dubrovnik-Neretva County (1.9 million).

The destinations that attracted the most visitors were Dubrovnik (164,000 arrivals), Split (160,000), Rovinj (149,000), Medulin (125,000) and Poreč (125,000 arrivals). Looking at the markets, in August most tourists came from Germany (1.1 million), Poland (338,000), Austria (317,000), the Czech Republic (250,000), Slovenia (239,000) and Italy (205,000).

Of these markets with the most arrivals in August, compared to August last year, 83 percent more guests came to Croatia from Germany, 7 percent more guests from Poland, 182 percent more guests from Austria, 30 percent more guests from the Czech Republic, 100 percent more guests from Italy, while guests from Slovenia achieved similar results in tourist traffic as in August last year.

“We can be satisfied with the results in the first eight months and I would like to thank everyone for their effort, work, adaptability and responsibility. The tourist year continues, and this is best evidenced by the fact that at this time there are about 680,000 tourists in Croatia, which is at the level of the number of tourists we had at this time in 2019. This is a great announcement for September in which we want to continue at the same pace to further boost economic development and ensure tourism has an even better starting position over the next year. I am especially pleased with the fact that, above all, we are achieving excellent financial results. Namely, the value of fiscalised invoices in tourism activities during the previous month was 21 percent higher than in August 2019, while at the annual level their value amounted to almost HRK 18 billion, which is about 84 percent of the value from the first eight months of 2019. I believe that this will be an incentive for everyone to continue to emphasise the quality for which there is a significant demand and sustainable business, which is the foundation of tourism development,”said Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

According to the type of accommodation, most overnight stays were realised in private accommodation, camps and hotels, of which the highest growth compared to the previous year was achieved by camps (93 percent more) and hotels (86 percent more overnight stays), followed by private accommodation and charter with growth of about 35 percent in overnight stays. 

Compared to August 2019, the best results were achieved in camps and charters that achieved 2 percent more overnight stays (camps) than in August 2019, or 1 percent more overnight stays (nautical – charter).

“Behind us is the main part of the summer season in which the entire Croatian tourism sector has done an excellent job. We have weeks ahead of us in which, according to the announcements of our most important partners and tour operators, we can expect very good tourist traffic. For the post-season, we have prepared several promotional activities to ensure our country’s further visibility in the tourism market as a quality, diverse and above all safe destination where the prescribed epidemiological measures are respected,” said the director of the Croatian Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić.

In the first eight months of this year, there were 10.7 million arrivals and 67.9 million overnight stays in Croatia, which is 56 percent more arrivals and 43 percent more overnight stays than in the first eight months of 2020. 

In Croatia, most overnight stays were made by guests from Germany (15.9 million), followed by domestic tourists (10.1 million), guests from Slovenia (7.9 million), Poland (5.8 million) and Austria (4 .9 million). Most tourist overnight stays were realised in Istria (18.9 million), Primorje-Gorski Kotar (12.6 million) and in the Split-Dalmatia County (12.4 million), while the most popular destinations were Rovinj with 2.7 million overnight stays and Vir and Poreč with 2 million overnight stays.