Croatia enjoying fantastic tourist season: July stats published 

Dubrovnik

ZAGREB, 1 August 2021 – Croatia’s tourism statistics for last month reveal that this summer’s season has been better than many expected, considering the coronavirus chaos.  

In July 2021, there were 3.7 million arrivals and 25 million overnight stays in Croatia. This represents 47 percent more arrivals and 33 percent more overnight stays than in the same period last year. 

At the same time, foreign tourists realised 21.6 million overnight stays, while domestic tourists realised 3.3 million overnight stays, according to preliminary data from the eVisitor system. 

Compared to the results in 2019, in July this year, 80 percent of arrivals and 81 percent of overnight stays of the record July 2019 were realised.

Where were the most tourists in Croatia?

Most tourist overnight stays were in Istria (6.7 million), Split-Dalmatia (4.7 million) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (4.7 million). This is followed by Zadar (4.3 million overnight stays) Šibenik-Knin (1.9 million) and Dubrovnik-Neretva County (1.5 million). 

The most popular destinations in July were Rovinj (909,000 overnight stays), Vir (856,000) and Poreč (734,000). 

Rovinj

In terms of markets, the highest number of overnight stays in July was recorded by foreign guests from Germany (4.4 million), Slovenia (3.7 million), Poland (2.4 million), the Czech Republic (2 million) and Austria (1.9 million).

According to the type of accommodation, most overnight stays were in private apartments, camps and hotels.

Croatia the safest in the Mediterranean

“The results so far in 2021 are an indicator that despite the pandemic, with good preparation and cooperation of all stakeholders in tourism, but also beyond, Croatia can be a safe and successful tourist destination. The trends are very good and are a great announcement for August and the off-season. Namely, in the last week of July, we achieved results that are 90 percent of those we had in July, a record 2019. In July this year, we are achieving even better results from some markets, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, than in July 2019. This gives us the right to be optimistic, but also cautious and responsible, we adhere to epidemiological measures and thus maintain the status of the safest destination in the Mediterranean,” said Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

“Extremely good results and trends in tourist traffic in July, but also so far this year are due to very good preparation of the season by the entire tourism sector, but also the fact that our country is the safest tourist destination in the Mediterranean. Compared to the record year 2019, we are currently at about 65 percent of the results, and the announcements for August and September are also very good. However, further flows and results will mostly depend on ourselves and the epidemiological situation in the country, so on this occasion we call on everyone to continue responsible behaviour and adherence to prescribed epidemiological measures to ensure the smooth flow of tourist traffic in the weeks ahead,” said the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić.

Split ferry terminal

In the first seven months of this year, 6.3 million arrivals and 36.9 million overnight stays were realised in Croatia, which is as much as 51 percent more arrivals and 39 percent more overnight stays than in the first seven months of 2020. 

Guests from Germany (6.8 million), Slovenia (5.2 million) and Poland (3.3 million) spent the most nights in Croatia. Most tourist overnight stays were realised in Istria (10.3 million), Primorje-Gorski Kotar (6.8 million) and in the Split-Dalmatia County (6.6 million), while the most popular destinations were Rovinj with 1.6 million overnight stays, Poreč (1.2 million) and Vir (1.1 million).