Croatia’s new tourism minister ‘very satisfied’ with tourism numbers

Korčula

ZAGREB, July 28 (Hina) – Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac said on Tuesday that given the situation, she was very satisfied with the tourism numbers which showed 50% of last year’s turnover.

Speaking to the press, she said that in recent months, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the situation did not look good at all but that the current numbers, with 50% of last year’s turnover, actually looked good.

Brnjac said it was necessary to prepare for absorbing money from the EU’s recovery and resilience programme, adding that this would be one of the topics of her meeting with tourism representatives on Wednesday.

Another important challenge is preparing tourism for the autumn season and for next summer.

The Croatian National Tourism (HTZ) Board director, Kristjan Stanicic, said on Tuesday that so far this year Croatia had reached 44% of the volume of tourist trade in the corresponding period of 2019.

This is higher than expected by the HTZ considering the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanicic said during a visit to Dubrovnik.

In July alone, the turnover is equal to 60% of the turnover recorded in July last year.

“We will do our best to make sure that our southern destinations reach the current national average, but all this depends on air transport,” Stanicic said, adding that further developments would depend on the epidemiological situation.

Currently, there are over 80 flight services bound for Dubrovnik and Split.

Of 100 registered hotels in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, about 60 are open, and their occupancy rate is at 33%. Private commercial accommodations have reached 50% of the results in 2019.

The islands of Korcula and Mljet as well as the peninsula of Peljesac are doing better than, for instance, Dubrovnik and destinations inland from Dubrovnik, the county’s authorities said.

Croatia passed the 2 million mark on Monday for the number of tourists to visit in July.

As well as 2 million arrivals, there were also 14.7 million tourist overnight stays recorded so far in July, which is approximately 59% of last year’s result. Most tourists arrived from Germany, followed by Slovenia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The destinations with the highest number of arrivals so far in July are Rovinj, Medulin, Crikvenica, Porec, Umag and Split.