Croatian tourism board announced a new record in the season of 2015. From January to October, the number of incoming visitors increased by 8.4 percent compared to last year. Germany, Slovenia, and Austria are the strongest source markets.
The new campaign called “Full of Life”, the planned and transacted investments in the hotel industry, and the efforts made to extend the pre- and post-season are indicative for an equally strong 2016, stated the tourism board.
More and more Austrians have discovered Croatia as a holiday destination. Between January and October 2015, there were more than 1.155 million arrivals (+ 8.68 percent) and roughly 6.43 million overnight stays (+ 8.22 %) of Austrian visitors. The percentage of overnight stays by Austrian tourists is at 8.16, making it Croatia’s third-largest market following Germany (21.25 %) and Slovenia (10.31 %).
“These numbers illustrate the strong performance of Croatian tourism in 2015. They are the result of a very good structured and thought-out program called ‘Croatia 365’, which started last year. With the next marketing campaign, we want to live up to these successes in 2016,” said Ranko Vlatkovic, Director of the Croatian tourism board in Austria.
Croatian tourism authorities have set high goals for themselves with strategic marketing plans for 2014-2020 including attractive off-season deals and 89 programs in total. Biking tours, spa treatments, business trips, truffle and olive planting are only a handful of offers. The long-term marketing plan will also be supported by the new marketing campaign, which was launched in October.
Alongside the already established air routes, Vienna’s new summer flight plan of 2016 will benefit the off-season as well. For example, NIKI will expand their network by two Croatian vacation spots and will offer flights from Vienna to Split and Dubrovnik once and twice per week in the off- and main-season, respectively.
Generous investments in the expansion of four and five star establishments distinctly display the role of tourism in Croatia. In 2015 alone, 490 million Euros were spent to increase the bed capacity and upgrade existing tourism infrastructures, which included 20 newly built or renovated hotels that now match the 4 or 5 star standard.