Drop of 75% in tourists to Croatia in March as impact of pandemic starts

Split (Photo: Spencer Davis)

ZAGREB, April 3 (Hina) – According to data from eVisitor, there were 118,200 tourists in Croatia in March, or 75% fewer on the year, while the number of overnight stays decreased by 53%, which confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on tourism, says Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) director Kristjan Stanicic.

In the first three months of 2020, 635,000 tourists visited Croatia and generated nearly 1.9 million overnight stays, which are respective decreases of 33% and 20% compared with the same period in 2019.

March first month with significant COVID-19 pandemic impact

Of the 118,200 tourist arrivals in March, about 65,000 were foreign tourists, which is a drop of 80.3% compared with March 2019, and they generated 64.5% fewer overnight stays, or nearly 280,000.

The biggest number of overnight stays was generated by domestic tourists, and tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Slovenia and Austria.

There were 53,300 domestic tourists and they generated 238,800 overnight stays, which are respective decreases of 60.7% and 24.2% compared with March 2018.

Commercial accommodation facilities accounted for 72% of tourism turnover, while non-commercial facilities accounted for the remaining 28%, seeing an increase compared with March last year, the HTZ has underscored.

About 110,000 overnight stays were generated in commercial accommodation facilities, a decline of over 60% and nearly 8,000 overnight stays were generated in non-commercial accommodation, an increase of 110%.

Too early for summer tourism forecast

Stanicic said that at this point it was too early to forecast demand for the peak season (July, August and September), underscoring that intensive work will be done to promote and position Croatia as a safe country once adequate conditions have been achieved.

“The focus will be on the domestic market and on those who can reach Croatian destinations by road,” Stanicic said.