Slowed down booking, but there are no cancellations so far

Many tourism workers in recent weeks have been anxiously watching developments in Ukraine and Russia, wondering for a reason – whether and how much the war in Eastern Europe will affect this year’s tourist season.

Judging by the information obtained by Večernji list, the booking has slowed down somewhat, but the cancellation of reservations is almost non-existent. Croatia ranks well, and until the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, booking was better than the record of 2019. Current events could, they say, be reflected in the pre-season.

– According to the research ‘Reiseanalyse’, last year our country climbed to the high fourth place of German foreign destinations for the first time – points out Romeo Draghicchio, director of the Croatian Tourist Board in Germany, which is also not bypassed by the trend of slowed summer reservations.

Reservations have also slowed in Austria, although Croatia is the second most sought-after destination among Austrians. It is similar, they claim, in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, which is now occupied by a large number of Ukrainian refugees.

In addition to the state of war in Eastern Europe, the season could be affected by the rage in fuel prices, which is very likely to affect the prices of travel arrangements. According to Večernji, this is the story among British tourists, and the increase in fuel prices is also plaguing our neighbouring Hungarians.

– The situation in Ukraine has slowed down reservations, especially with online agencies, some of which recorded a decline of 40 per cent. A potentially greater threat to Hungarians’ travels abroad will be the devaluation of the Hungarian forint, which has reached its historic low these days. The interest in our country is great, but it remains to be seen what will happen next – they claim in the CNTB’s office in Hungary.

As things stand now, it looks like the upcoming season will be about last-minute arrangements.

Source: morski.hr