Croatia passes 9 million tourist arrivals this year 

Dubrovnik

ZAGREB, 18 August 2021 – Croatia today has passed the number of tourist overnight stays recorded for all of last year.

According to the eVisitor system, 55.3 million overnight stays have been realised in Croatia from the beginning of the year until today, which exceeds the number of overnight stays from the entire 2020, when 54.4 million overnight stays were realised in twelve months, the Croatian National Tourist Board said on Wednesday. 

Of the total number of overnight stays in 2021, 46.6 million were realised by foreign tourists, while 8.7 million were realised by domestic tourists. 

Since the beginning of this year, 9 million tourist arrivals have been realised, which is 1.2 million more tourists than last year.

“Given the trends in the travel industry, our goal was to maintain the stability of the tourist system, preserve jobs and the recognition of Croatia as a safe tourist destination. We want to continue with these results and that is why it is important that we all continue to adhere to epidemiological measures. This creates the foundations for next year and the continued development of Croatian tourism. This year has first of all shown that safety and quality are crucial in choosing a destination, and that guests are willing to pay even more. Ultimately, our desire is to create sustainable tourism in which the focus is not on the number of tourists, but on quality, on tourists who will consume as many offers in destinations, generate more consumption, which will further encourage new investments in tourism,” said Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

In 2021, there were 46 percent more arrivals and 37 percent more overnight stays than in the same period last year. Compared to the same period in 2019, 61 percent of arrivals and 72 percent of overnight stays were realised compared to the same period in 2019. 

More than a million tourists are currently staying in Croatia. Most of the foreign tourists are Germans (297,000), Poles (81,000), Slovenes (74,000) and Italians (61,000). 

Most tourists currently stay in Istria (283,000), Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (187,000) and Split-Dalmatia County (184,000).