Croatia’s booming tourist season exceeds expectations

This success will accelerate the recovery of the country’s economy

On 10 August, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met with members of the government and representatives of the tourism sector to discuss this year’s number of vacationers, the epidemiological situation, and the state of the economy. Assessing the data gathered so far, Plenković revealed that the country has now officially exceeded last year’s number of tourists.

The role of COVID

While many countries have struggled to find ways of attracting visitors since the outbreak of the pandemic, Croatia has linked tourism with its overall epidemiological framework. In other words, the government has taken strict and concrete measures to prevent the spread of COVID and ensure the safety of its citizens. It then extended these measures to the tourism sector, promoting the country as a “safe destination”.

Taking a case in point, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports launched the Safe Stay in Croatia campaign, among others, to portray Croatia as a destination that prioritises the safety of its tourists. Commenting on the epidemiological measures taken by the government, Plenković shared:

“The goal of the Croatian government was to take epidemiological measures that will support the idea of a safe stay in Croatia. Without concrete measures, personal responsibility, and the vaccination of our population, the overall impression of Croatia as a tourist destination certainly cannot be complete.”

Accelerating the economy’s recovery

During the meeting, the government recalled the data collected in previous years to analyse the success of the 2021 tourist season. According to Plenković, 2019 was a record year for Croatia’s tourism sector as the country recorded 20 million visitors, 108 million overnight stays, and 12 billion euros in revenue.

Unsurprisingly, 2020 fell short of these numbers as the outbreak of the pandemic negatively impacted the tourism sector. Nevertheless, it must be noted that Croatia still recorded a better season than other destinations in the Mediterranean.

Now, after months of hard work, the country has exceeded the 2020 results. Expanding on this, Plenković revealed: “In this tourist year, Croatia has received a total of 7,769,179 tourists so far, and on this very day, we have exceeded the total number of tourists in Croatia in 2019.”

This success is extremely important as it will massively contribute to the recovery of the Croatian economy. What is more, it bodes well for the coming months of the year as revenues are expected to increase even further.