Croatia tourism record broken in 2025: 110 million overnight stays

Croatia’s tourism sector has achieved its most successful year ever, with visitors generating a record-breaking 110 million overnight stays during 2025.

According to official figures from the eVisitor system, Croatia’s national platform for tracking tourist traffic in commercial and non-commercial accommodation and nautical charter services, the country welcomed more than 21.8 million arrivals last year.

These visitors realised 110.1 million overnight stays, marking growth of 2 percent in arrivals and 1 percent in overnight stays compared with 2024.

Strong performance on the Adriatic and the continent

The vast majority of tourist traffic was concentrated along the Adriatic coast. Destinations on the coast recorded 104.6 million overnight stays, which is 1 percent more than the previous year.

Meanwhile, continental Croatia, including the capital Zagreb, also saw positive results. The region achieved 5.6 million overnight stays, a 2 percent increase compared with 2024, highlighting the steady development of Croatia as an attractive year-round destination.

Record pre-season, post-season and December boost

Tourism Minister Tonči Glavina expressed satisfaction with the historic results, noting that 2025 delivered records across all segments of the industry.

“We are pleased with the achieved results, which were record-breaking in every segment. Both the pre-season and post-season were the best ever, and we made a significant step forward in December, with over one million overnight stays,” Glavina said.

“For the first time in history, Croatia surpassed 110 million overnight stays. In addition, we achieved record revenues, while at the same time successfully implementing one of the most demanding tourism reforms – the reform of accommodation capacities,” he added.

Glavina warned, however, that the coming year will bring fresh challenges, including geopolitical instability, economic pressures on key European markets and shifting global travel trends.

“In 2026, price competitiveness will be crucial. We must take seriously the warnings and signals coming from our markets. With responsible and coordinated action across the sector, we can repeat these excellent results,” the minister concluded.

Istria remains Croatia’s leading tourism region

Looking at tourism by county, Istria once again led the way with 30.3 million overnight stays. It was followed by Split-Dalmatia (20.9 million), Kvarner (18.5 million), Zadar County (15.5 million), Dubrovnik-Neretva County (9.3 million), Šibenik-Knin County (6.6 million), Lika-Senj County (3.5 million), and other regions.

Among individual destinations, the top performers in 2025 were Dubrovnik, Rovinj, Split, Poreč and Umag, confirming their status as Croatia’s tourism powerhouses.

Germany continues to dominate visitor numbers

In terms of international markets, tourists from Germany generated the highest number of overnight stays in Croatia last year, accounting for 22.3 million.

Domestic tourists ranked second with 13.8 million overnight stays, followed by visitors from Slovenia (11.1 million), Austria (8.2 million), Poland (7.3 million), the Czech Republic (4.9 million) and the United Kingdom (4.1 million).

Croatian National Tourist Board outlines 2026 strategy

Kristjan Staničić, Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), emphasised that the results were achieved despite complex global circumstances such as inflationary pressures, climate change and uncertain economic conditions.

“These excellent outcomes motivate us for further work in 2026. The focus will remain on developing premium and sustainable tourism, strengthening cooperation with airlines, tour operators and travel platforms, and launching targeted digital campaigns,” Staničić said.

He added that HTZ will continue to promote specific tourism products and intensify early booking initiatives, including the “Local Host” project aimed at markets with strong demand for accommodation in Croatian households.

“Our main goal must be to deliver high quality and real value for money to visitors,” Staničić stated.

Growth continues in December and holiday period

Croatia finished the year on a high note. During December 2025, the country recorded 450,000 arrivals and 1.1 million overnight stays – up 7 percent in both categories compared with December 2024.

The most overnight stays in December were achieved on Kvarner, Istria and Split-Dalmatia, while the leading destinations were Zagreb, Opatija, Split, Dubrovnik and Rovinj.

Zlatni Rat beach, Brač

Christmas and New Year bring 8% rise

Tourism traffic surged even further over the festive period. Between 24 December and 1 January, Croatia realised more than 188,000 arrivals and 541,000 overnight stays, representing an 8 percent increase compared with the same period a year earlier.

The highest demand during the holidays was recorded in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Opatija, Poreč and Split.

Hotels accounted for 279,000 overnight stays, while accommodation in private households generated 128,000, underlining the importance of both segments to Croatia’s tourism success.