Croatia’s tourism record broken on Friday as arrivals pass 19.72 million

Record broken with more than two months of the year remaining

ZAGREB, 25 October 2019 – In 2018, 19,719,329 million tourists visited Croatia, this was a new record for arrivals in a year in Croatian tourism history.

That record has been broken on 25 October 2019 as the Croatian Tourist Board reported today that a total of 19,722.582 tourists have now visited Croatia so far in 2019. This is 5% more than in the same period as last year. 

“The fact that we exceeded the tourist turnover more than two months earlier than all of last year is a great result for Croatian tourism and clear confirmation that this tourist year, despite all the challenges, was great for the entire Croatian tourism sector. We are optimistic about 2020, which will also be demanding, and our primary goal will be to maintain Croatia’s competitive position in Europe, as well as further positioning in new distant markets,” said HTZ director Kristjan Staničić. 

Staničić said October has been great also with 10% growth from last year, confirming Croatia as a destination which offers more than just sun and the sea. 

So fat this year, the most overnights came from Germany, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic and the UK. 

Dubrovnik, Rovinj, Poreč, Split, Medulin, Umag, Vir, and Mali Lošinj have been the most popular destinations in 2019. Most overnights were recorded at private accommodation (38.8 million), followed by hotels (24.4 million) and camping grounds (18.8 million). 

Dubrovnik

“This result is proof that the Government of the Republic of Croatia takes a serious approach to the development of tourism and is considering innovative ways of conducting tourism policy, but also confirming the synergistic action of all stakeholders of the tourism system, public and private sector, especially tourism workers, without which exceeding last year’s results in this challenging tourist year would not be possible. This year will also be remembered as a turning point in which the entire tourism legislation has been amended, and I believe that in 2020, when the new tourism laws will begin to apply, we will work even better and more sustainably,” said Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli.