Record-breaking December tourism statistics in Zadar

Zadar (Photo: Bojan Bogdanić)

Over just two years, overnight stays in Zadar in December have increased by 36%, while tourist arrivals have risen by 19.6%.

The final month of the year delivered record-breaking tourism results for Zadar, with 39,320 overnight stays (up from 34,543 last year) and 15,011 tourist arrivals (compared to 14,340 in December last year).

This represents a 13.8% increase in overnight stays and a 4.68% rise in tourist arrivals year-on-year.

This continued growth trend is closely linked to the city’s popular “Advent in Zadar” programme, during which most seasonal events take place. Notably, there has been a steadily increasing share of international visitors.

In December this year, foreign guests accounted for 67% of all overnight stays, with visitors from Austria, Germany and Slovenia making up 45% of all international overnight stays.

(Photo: Fabio Šimićev)

This year’s results also significantly outperform those recorded two years ago. In December 2022, Zadar recorded 28,858 overnight stays and 12,555 arrivals. Since then, overnight stays have surged by 36%, while arrivals have grown by 19.6%.

(Photo: Matija Lipar)

The growing presence of international visitors is particularly evident, with strong increases among German tourists (+40%), Italian visitors (+38%), Polish guests (+31%) and Hungarian travellers (+25%). Domestic tourism has also continued to rise, with Croatian guests recording 10% more overnight stays than last year and 32% more than two years ago.

(Photo: Bojan Bogdanić)

Thanks to these strong results, Zadar has secured its position among Croatia’s top five destinations during November and December, ranking just behind Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Opatija and Split, and ahead of Rovinj, Poreč, Rijeka, Šibenik and Pula.

(Photo: Matija Lipar)

“Zadar has undoubtedly positioned itself in recent years as one of Croatia’s leading Advent destinations, as well as one of the most popular Advent stages for domestic performers,” said Iva Bencun, Director of the Zadar Tourist Board.

(Photo: Fabio Šimićev)

“This year, we expanded the Advent programme to include the city market area, which proved to be a great success. We offered a wide range of attractive events and concerts that made the Old Town appealing to foreign visitors, while also ensuring it remained lively and well attended by local residents during the off-season, which is one of our key objectives.”

(Photo: Fabio Šimićev)