Croatian tourism presented in Latin America for first time

(Photo: HTZ)

The Croatian Tourist Board, in the heart of Chile, in the Croatian club Estadio Croata, held a special presentation of Croatia’s tourism offer.

The presentation was organised as part of the 28th Catad’Ora, the most prestigious and popular wine competition and tasting of wines and spirits in Latin America, held in Santiago de Chile, where Croatia, for the first time, holds the status of Partner Country.

Although all the richness of Croatian tourism was presented, the focus of the presentation, held for 70 of the most significant Chilean tour operators, agents, tourist journalists, and travel bloggers, was on nautical tourism, the indented coastline, sea cleanliness, untouched nature, as well as on the safety of Croatia as a tourist destination and its excellent food and wine.

The national tourist offer was presented by Kristjan Staničić, the director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Tomislav Fain, the director of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies, and Tomislav Radoš, the vice president of the Croatian Chamber of Economy for Industry and Sustainable Development. The event was opened by Mira Martinec, the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Chile.

Tomislav Radoš, Tomislav Fainm, Mira Martinec, Kristjan Staničić (Photo: HTZ)

“Catad’Ora is an opportunity to showcase our top wines, but also Croatia as a popular and desirable tourist destination in the Mediterranean. Croatia is increasingly recognized globally as a safe vacation spot; however, we are also gaining recognition as a high-quality gastronomic destination. The Partner Country status at the prestigious Catad’Ora has provided an opportunity for an additional step in presenting our tourist offer in this distant market with great potential, especially considering the sizable Croatian diaspora in Chile and throughout Latin America. I believe that we have brought our country closer to all of them, who, as we have seen here, love it even from a distance,” said Director Staničić, adding that he believes many Croats who haven’t visited yet will come to our country and explore the destinations of their ancestors.

Kristjan Staničić (Photo: HTZ)

When it comes to distant markets and travel agencies, according to Tomislav Fain from UHPA, interest in Croatian destinations remains strong despite all global challenges.

“Our country is globally recognized for various aspects of the tourist offer that make it distinctive and attractive as a tourist destination. For agencies, it is crucial to identify the preferences of each individual market to create offers that will match the interests of travelers we want to attract to Croatian destinations,” emphasized Fain.

Positive trends from the Chilean market are also confirmed by eVisitor system data, showing over 15,000 arrivals and 46,000 overnight stays from this market in the current part of the year, representing an 18% increase in arrivals and a 13% increase in overnight stays compared to the same period last year.

“The potential for even better and stronger economic cooperation between Latin American countries and Croatia definitely exists, especially in the fields of energy, pharmaceuticals, IT, food, and the electro-industry, as well as tourism. Opening new business opportunities is a necessary step in strengthening tourist flows among countries and the economy in general,” said Radoš from the Croatian Chamber of Economy.

The significant and very positive step in bringing Croatia closer to this area was emphasized by Mira Martinec, the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Chile.

“The possibilities offered by Croatia as a Mediterranean-continental tourist destination in the heart of Europe are numerous. This activity of the Croatian Tourist Board will undoubtedly result in significant interest from this large market, especially since the presentation was made in front of a large number of representatives from various sectors in the tourism industry. Chile does not have any major tourism fairs, so it is important to approach this large and insufficiently explored tourism pool with potential clients who can and want to afford interesting vacations in distant places. Also, this is a country with over 250,000 people of Croatian descent, emotionally attached to the land of their ancestors, who willingly visit it in family groups of 20 or more family members,” concluded Martinec.

(Photo: HTZ)

The Catad’Ora competition in Santiago de Chile has been held since 1995, and this year’s edition evaluated a total of 1,300 samples from 20 countries worldwide. With the support of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, wineries Kutjevo, Badel 1862, Jako vino, and Agrolaguna, as well as representatives of regional organizations in Croatia, are presented at this year’s Catad’Ora World Wine Awards.

Croatia sent 41 wine samples (17 white, 20 red, 1 rosé, and 3 sparkling) and seven samples of spirits from our country.