6% more tourists visit Croatia in first 6 months of 2019

Trogir

ZAGREB, 9 July 2019 – According to data from the eVisitor and eCrew system, a total of 6.88 million tourists have visited Croatia from 1 January – 30 June, which is 6% more than in the same period last year, the Ministry of Tourism said on Tuesday. 

Overnights were also up on last year with 26.26 million recorded in the first six months of 2019, this represented growth of 3% from the same period in 2018.  

Foreign tourists made up 5.85 million of all arrivals (+6%) and 22.93 million overnight stays (+3%). The number of local tourists increased by 6% and overnights which they created by 4%. 

“One of the main priorities in the management of our tourism policy is the strengthening of traffic in the pre-season, and the results of this year’s pre-season, like the past years, show that we have managed to reach growth of tourist turnover by 20% in arrivals and 15% in overnight stays in the last three years,” Minister Gari Cappelli said. 

Croatian Tourist Board director Kristjan Staničić added. “The overall tourism growth achieved during the first six months of this year is the result of targeted activities in promoting our country as an attractive year-round destination. Airlines have also had a strong impact with an increase of 81 new flights in this year’s summer flight schedule, as well as the far-reaching markets that have contributed to almost 20% of overall arrivals and 10% of overnight stays during the first six months.”

Dubrovnik (Photo: Spencer Davis)

During the first six months of 2019, the most overnights were recorded in Istria (7.6 million), followed by Split-Dalmatia County (4.7 million), Kvarner (4.3 million), Zadar, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Šibenik-Knin, Zagreb and Lika-Senj counties. 

In continental Croatia, not including Zagreb, there were 496,000 arrivals (+10%) and 978,000 overnights (+8%) in the first six months. The most overnights were recorded in Karlovac County (192,000), followed by Krapina-Zagorje (171,000), Osijek-Baranja (105,000), Zagreb County (91,000) and Međimurje (81,000).

Most overnights were created by tourists from Germany (5.43 million), Austria (2.33 million), Slovenia (2.29 million), UK (1.43 million) and Poland (1.23 million). 

Rovinj

Most overnights were recorded in hotels (9.39 million), followed by private accommodation (7.15 million), and campsites (4.52 million). 

The most popular destinations in the first six months based on the number of overnights were Dubrovnik, Rovinj, Zagreb, Poreč and Split.

In June, a total of 3.13 million tourists visited Croatia, recording 15 million overnight stays, which compared to 2018 was growth of 10% and 8% respectively. The most overnights in June were recorded in Istria (4.6 million), Split-Dalmatia (2.8 million) and Kvarner (2.7 million).