Vir Island records 2 million overnight stays

Island Vir has recorded 2.004.373 overnight stays, a record among Croatian islands, and a first Croatian destination with over 1 million stays in 2020. Success is even more impressive considering the decline in tourism this year. Vir managed to record 85% of overnight stays when compared to 2019, making it the most successful Croatian destination. This was the 5th year in a row that Vir is listed in the top 5 most visited locations in the country.

“These results are not surprising, cause our island has had constantly good results in the last 10 years. We are the most visited destination in Zadar county, and in the top 10 in Croatia, for years now”, says Kristijan Kapovic, Vir Town mayor. He states they knew Island Vir was gonna be popular among tourists, especially after lockdown measures were loosened up. Additionally, 50 percent of houses on the island are owned by foreigners, which then bring their families and friends along. Out of those 2.1 million stays, 443.000 were recorded in commercial accommodation (78.1 % were foreigners). Most people came from Slovenia, Germany, Hungary and Czech Republic, followed by Slovakia, Poland and Austria. At the same time, Vir Island has recorded 101.513 arrivals, mostly by tourists (62.923). If we’re to watch only commercial accommodation, then tourists account for 55.6 % of all arrivals.

Vir has also dominated the first part of June, as well as July and August, when it was the only destination to record over 700.000 overnight stays. This rhythm was followed only by Rovinj which recorded over 1.6 million stays, while Medulin, Porec, Crikvenica, Mali Losinj, Umag and Novalja recorded a bit over 1 million stays. In the context of the Coronavirus pandemic, these numbers for Vir Island are great. The island is leading the traffic of domestic guests (1.2 million overnight stays). Vir became a synonym for family tourism – it has recorded the best numbers for domestic and foreign tourists. In 2020, Zadar county had 2 destinations on the list of best tourist places in Croatia – Zadar and Vir Island. Moreover, in the top 50 there are also Pag Island (22nd), Nin (25th), Biograd na Moru (31st), Pakostane (33rd) and Sveti Filip i Jakov (49th).

Source: Morski.hr