Croatia closed August with 20% more tourist spending than in 2019
In August 2021, about 4.3 million tourist arrivals and 30.7 million overnight stays were realized in Croatia, i.e. 59% more arrivals and 46% more overnight stays than in the same period last year.
Accordingly, there were 26.7 million overnight stays by foreign tourists and 4 million overnight stays by domestic tourists. Compared to the results in 2019, in August this year, 86% of arrivals and 93% of overnight stays were realized in August 2019.
Most tourist overnight stays were realized in Istria (8.6 million), Split-Dalmatia (5.8 million) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (5.7 million) counties.
The destinations that attracted the most visitors in August were Dubrovnik (164,000 arrivals), Split (160,000), Rovinj (149,000), Medulin (125,000) and Poreč (125,000 arrivals). They are closely followed by some of the most popular Croatian islands such as Hvar or Pag.
Looking at the markets, in August most tourists came from Germany (1.1 million), Poland (338,000), Austria (317,000), the Czech Republic (250,000), Slovenia (239,000) and Italy (205,000).
Slightly fewer tourists than the record 2019 in August, however, brought a higher amount of tourist spending. According to fiscalization data, in August this year, the total amount of fiscalized invoices in the activities of providing accommodation, food preparation and serving increased by 21% compared to 2019, precisely to HRK 6.8 billion.
As Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said, this season was at 70-75% of the record 2019. He also used the opportunity to congratulate the Minister of Tourism Nikolina Brnjac and other tourism workers.
When we look at the period from the beginning of the year to September 14, a total of 55.3 million overnight stays were realized, which exceeded the number of overnight stays from the whole of 2020 when 54.4 million overnight stays were realized in twelve months.
Of the total number of overnight stays in 2021, 46.6 million were realized by foreign tourists, while 8.7 million were realized by domestic tourists. Since the beginning of this year, 9 million tourist arrivals have been realized, i.e. 1.2 million more tourists have visited Croatia this year than last year.
Given the trends in the travel industry, our goal was to maintain the stability of the tourist system, preserve jobs and the recognition of Croatia as a safe tourist destination. We want to continue with these results and that is why it is important that we all continue to adhere to epidemiological measures. This creates the foundations for next year and the continued development of Croatian tourism. This year has first of all shown that safety and quality are crucial in choosing a destination and that guests are willing to pay even more. Ultimately, our desire is to create sustainable tourism in which the focus is not on the number of tourists, but on quality, on tourists who will consume as many offers in destinations, generate more consumption, which will then further encourage new investments in tourism.
Nikolina Brnjac
Source: Morski.hr
