Why Vukovar is attracting more and more tourists as the eastern Croatian city welcomes a big surge in arrivals

by croatiaweek
January 26, 2023
in News

Vukovar (Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)

Vukovar is an increasingly attractive destination with a 44 percent increase in arrivals and 33 percent in overnight stays recorded last year. This is five percent more overnight stays than in pre-pandemic 2019, and according to announcements, the trend of tourist growth will continue this year as well.

Vukovar welcomed a total of 39,569 arrivals, including school excursions, and recorded 65,866 overnight stays last year. This is growth of as much as 243.15 percent for arrivals and 139.97 percent for overnight stays than in 2021.

The tourism results of the city of Vukovar last year are exceptional and a great prelude to this year, and confirmation that Vukovar is among the most desirable destinations on the continent.

Vukovar (Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)

When it comes to tourist figures without excursions, the beauty of the city located partly in Slavonia and partly in Srijem recorded an increase of 43.81 percent for arrivals and 32.75 percent for overnight stays.

Namely, in 2022, a total of 16,565 guests visited Vukovar, and 36,437 overnight stays were achieved, while the year before, 11,519 arrivals and 27,448 overnight stays were recorded.

Vukovar (Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)

Croatians made up a bulk of the visitors to the city in 2022, whilst the most foreign visitors were from Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria…

The excellent demand has resulted in more accommodation opening up. In 2022, nine new accommodation facilities were opened, of which three are holiday homes. This trend continued this year, in January a holiday house and an apartment were opened, so today Vukovar has 1,066 beds.

River cruising is more and more attractive, excursions are back

The Danube, as one of the strongest assets of continental Croatia, was the destination of many lovers of river cruising last year. 305 cruise ships with 29,607 passengers sailed into the port of Vukovar, mostly from the USA and German-speaking countries.

River cruise, Vukovar (Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)

School excursions returned to Vukovar last year, whose arrival was interrupted due to the pandemic, and as far as visits to memorial sites and attractions are concerned, the city is returning to pre-corona numbers.

The famous water tower recorded the largest number of visitors and a growth of 32.78 percent compared to 2021, and there are more and more visitors to events and festivals, from Vinkovo, Vukovar Puppet Spring to Actor’s Festival, Vukovar Film Festival, Ethno Fair and Advent.

Water Tower (Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)

The Museum of Vučedol Culture European Heritage Label

Measuring the quality and satisfaction of guests through the integral destination management project – IQM Destination Vukovar – showed that the overall satisfaction of Vukovar guests in 2022 was extremely high at 93/100.

Vukovar (Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)

More than 6,000 guests have left reviews on online platforms, confirming with comments and ratings that Vukovar welcomes its guests equally readily at any time of the year.

Vukovar (Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)

“Tourist attractions were rated best, with 97 out of a maximum of 100 points. Among them is the Vučedol Culture Museum, which received two international awards last year. Due to its active role in the education of all age groups of society and the sustainable use of cultural and natural heritage, the European Commission awarded it the European Heritage Label. The European Award Sustainable Cultural Tourism Destination 2022 in the category Promotion of European heritage to young visitors was awarded to the museum by the European Cultural Tourism Network based in Brussels,” pointed out Marina Sekulić, director of the Vukovar Tourist Board.

Vučedol Culture Museum (Photo: Miroslav Šlafhauzer)

Wind in the sails of destination Vukovar

That Vukovar is equally attractive regardless of the season was confirmed last year at the Days of Croatian Tourism, where it was among the top three most successful continental city tourism destinations.

Vukovar (Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)

At one of the most important Croatian tourist meetings – the PUT tourist exchange – last year, at the proposal of the City of Vukovar Tourists Board, the Vukovar travel agency Vu Life journey and the Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Tourist Manifestations, Attractions and Destinations “Svi zajedno hrvatsko naj” received the traditional national annual ‘Simply the Best’ award.

Vukovar (Photo credit: Darko Kešnjer)

“All these awards are a great wind in the sail for the destination of Vukovar, but also another confirmation that Vukovar tourism is developing in the right direction,” said Marina Sekulić.