August tourist overnight stays in Croatia 64 pct of 2019 level

More than 2.5 million tourists visited Croatia in August and there were 20.7 million overnight stays which is 64 percent of the figure of last year, head of the Croatian Tourist Board told national news agency Hina on Monday.

Kristjan Stanicic, director of the Tourist Board, noted that Croatia achieved extremely good results in August, given the circumstances and the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our further strategy and marketing will depend on the epidemiological picture in Croatia and the surrounding countries,” Stanicic said.

According to the Tourist Board, German tourists had the most overnight stays here. There were also many visitors from Slovenia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. And the Istria County was the most visited in August.

Stanicic said the Board plans to launch a campaign for domestic tourists and encourage their consumption in the off-season by offering tourist services at lower prices.

With more than 1,000 islands along the Adriatic coast, Croatia attracts most of its tourists in July and August. This July saw some 15 million overnight stays or around 59 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

Croatia’s economy is largely dependent on the tourism industry which contributes almost 20 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).

That’s the main reason why the country opened its borders in May and eased epidemiological measures during the summer.

In the last few weeks, Croatia saw steady growth in new COVID-19 cases. In the last 24 hours, 146 new cases were recorded. Since late February, when the first case of the COVID-19 was reported, 10,269 people have been infected in Croatia and 186 have died, according to the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

After a sharp rise in new cases recently, Croatia has been put on the epidemiological warning lists of Austria, Britain, and Slovenia — countries that are an important source of tourism revenue here.

Read alsoFrom Hungary to Croatia: travelling during a pandemic

Source: Xinhua