Why Croatia is no longer chasing endless tourism growth

Croatia is entering a new phase in its tourism development, with the focus shifting from constant growth in visitor numbers towards maintaining sustainable levels and strengthening the pre- and post-season.

Kristjan Staničić, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), told HRT main evening news programme Dnevnik that tourism results in the first half of June were broadly in line with those recorded last year in terms of arrivals and overnight stays.

He stressed, however, that the figures remain incomplete and unofficial as data entry is still under way.

According to the latest available figures, Croatia has recorded more than 294,000 arrivals during the period under review. Staničić said the results were encouraging, noting that Croatia remained among the leading European destinations in terms of tourism performance during the first part of the year.

He also pointed to last year’s record pre-season, saying that the strong results had been repeated this year and that there was therefore no reason for dissatisfaction with the course of the tourism year so far.

Commenting on the lower number of German visitors recorded in June, Staničić said the figures should be viewed over a longer period.

Germany remains Croatia’s most important tourism market, and he said the overall number of German visitors was broadly at a similar level to last year.

The difference in monthly figures was attributed in part to the timing of religious holidays and school holidays. Last year, June was considerably stronger than May, while this year a higher number of German visitors was recorded in May.

Staničić said the results of the main summer months would provide a clearer picture, particularly once school holidays begin in the German regions that traditionally send large numbers of visitors to Croatia.

Looking ahead, Staničić said that Croatia could not continue with constant expansion of tourism indefinitely.

The country’s strategic objective is now to maintain annual tourism traffic at approximately current levels – between 21 and 22 million arrivals and around 110 million overnight stays.

The priority, he said, is to achieve a better distribution of tourism throughout the year by strengthening the pre-season and post-season.

During the peak summer months, Croatia can have between one million and 1.2 million tourists in the country on a daily basis. Such numbers place significant pressure on destinations, transport networks and communal infrastructure.

Staničić said this also affects the quality of life of local residents as well as the experience of tourists.

Further growth is expected to come through promotional activities, stronger air connections to Croatian airports, investment in tourism infrastructure and the development of new accommodation capacity.

The hotel sector is expected to play a particularly important role.

Staničić said the structure of Croatia’s accommodation capacity remained one of the biggest challenges facing the country’s tourism sector.

Hotels currently account for around 14% of accommodation capacity, while camps represent approximately 20%. More than half of capacity is in private accommodation.

According to Staničić, hotels generally achieve higher occupancy rates and higher prices, while also creating a stronger economic effect in the destinations where they operate.

He said Croatia had, in recent years, exceeded demand in terms of the growth of private accommodation capacity.

The Government has therefore introduced a package of legislative measures aimed at influencing the structure of accommodation and better aligning supply with demand.

Amendments to the Hospitality and Catering Industry Act are also planned this year, with the aim of regulating accommodation capacity and improving the position of private accommodation providers in line with market conditions.

Croatia’s tourism strategy is therefore increasingly focused not on achieving ever-higher visitor numbers, but on maintaining strong overall performance while reducing pressure during the busiest months and creating a more balanced, sustainable tourism model throughout the year.