Croatian tourist season: Revenue and arrival numbers revealed

by croatiaweek
September 9, 2024
in News

Split

The Ministry of Tourism has presented the tourism results for the first eight months of this year, Index.hr reported.

The results and activities were presented by the Minister of Tourism and Sport, Tonči Glavina, and the Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, Kristjan Staničić.

Growth in Arrivals Due to Pre-Season, Overnight Stays on Par with Last Year

“In the pre-season, we saw an 8% increase in arrivals,” said Minister Glavina. He added that in the first eight months of this year, arrivals were up by 4% and overnight stays by 1%, compared to the same period last year.

“In July and August, we experienced a 1% increase in arrivals, with overnight stays remaining the same as last year during these months,” the Tourism Minister said.

In August alone, there were 265,000 more tourists than in the same month last year.

Despite a decline of 155,000 in July, the peak season ended with a net increase of 110,000 tourists, while the number of overnight stays during these two critical months remained on par with last year.

Over €5.44 Billion in Spending

“We’ve recorded over €5.44 billion in spending through fiscalised transactions, which is 11.55% higher than last year. The number of receipts has also increased by 5.5% compared to last year,” he explained.

“No Room for Growth During the Season”

Glavina noted that there is no further capacity for growth during the peak season.

Kristjan Staničić, head of the Croatian National Tourist Board, presented data on the top ten countries by guest numbers. Germans remain the most frequent visitors to Croatia, although there has been a 4% drop in German arrivals and a 6% decrease in their overnight stays compared to last year.

However, Staničić emphasised that this still represents an increase of 6% in arrivals and 5% in overnight stays compared to 2019.

Decline in German and Italian Visitors

After Germans, the next most frequent tourists in terms of overnight stays are Croatians, followed by Slovenians. Austrians and Poles round out the top five.

A significant decline has been noted in the number of Italian visitors. This season saw 5% fewer Italian arrivals and 7% fewer overnight stays compared to last year. The drop compared to 2019 is even more pronounced, with a 23% decrease in arrivals and a 28% decline in overnight stays.