Croatia continues to recover from the recession mainly thanks to tourism. A greater influx of German and Austrian tourists has been a great help in aiding Croatia to get ahead of its ex-Yugoslav neighbors.
Croatia’s long coastline and a mass of islands are of extreme importance to the country in terms of tourism. The country and its beaches as well as historical cities like Dubrovnik are a popular destination for not only Eastern Europeans but also Westerners.
In the first 6 months of this year, tourism has grown by around 11% in Croatia, mainly thanks to more visitors from Slovenia, Germany and Austria. Indeed, 3.2 million more people passed through the Croatian border between January and June this year compared to last year.
This improvement has also led to 13.7 million more overnight stays on Croatian soil – a 13% increase on 2010. Even more encouraging news comes with the fact that German, Slovenian and Austrian tourists tend to spend more money than the tourists who came to Croatia just after the break-up of Yugoslavia.
The success is partially due to the way Croatia is breaking away from its ugly recent past in a more effective manner than some other former Yugoslav states. The fight against corruption has been taken very seriously and the country is beginning to move away from the reputation of being a battlefield to an Adriatic sun-baked haven.