Croatia Hunting Slice Of €10 Billion Hunting Tourism Cake

Relaxed new laws from July 1 when Croatia enters the European Union will allow Croatia to become more competitive in the battle to capture a bigger slice of the ‘hunting tourism’ cake, which is currently worth around 10 billion euros a year.

Hunting tourism in Croatia is currently small business. Offerings for hunters in Croatia is still in the development stage, meaning that when they do enter the country only 30% of their spending is on tourist services, whilst 70% is set aside for hunting, a situation which is the opposite in successful hunting tourism destinations.

From 1 July it will however become a lot easier for hunters to come to Croatian hunting grounds as fees and timely weapon registration gets waived. It is estimated that there are over 7.3 million active hunters in Europe and Croatia will be chasing a bigger share of the market. Its main competition comes from Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Croatia’s geographical location and natural features make hunting a variety of wildlife possible throughout the country. In the eastern lowland Croatian regions, Slavonia and Baranja, it is possible to hunt deer, roebuck, wild boar, and the small, hairy and feathery fowl. In central Croatia it is also possible to hunt all the wildlife above, while in the area of Lika and Gorski Kotar it is possible to hunt bear and grouse. On the Dalmatian coast the special attraction is hunting chamois and mouflon, and the specific types of small game birds that inhabits high altitudes like the rock partridge, grouse and the hryvnia.