Despite the persistence of the pandemic and the fact that the tourist season in Croatia only started in the second half of the year, camping tourism has once again shown its ability to face the challenges and has recorded excellent results, both in the number of arrivals and in that of overnight stays. This is what emerged from the 15th Croatian Camping Congress held in Terme Tuhelj and organized by the Croatian Camping Union (KUH), with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and the Croation Tourism Board.
In November, 91 percent of overnight stays in 2019 were reached, with small differences between the various regions. These are results that exceeded expectations, which predicted 60 to 70 percent of pre-pandemic trafficking. This confirmed once again that Croatia can be considered the winner of the “Mediterranean” for the second consecutive tourist season.
A segment to promote
“In the corona crisis, campsites have proven to be a popular form of accommodation due to the security and the possibility of distance they provide to guests. Its popularity is certainly confirmed by the numbers, so the camping sector has shown the importance it has in the overall tourist results, which is why it is crucial to continue investing in this form of tourist offer in order to attract more domestic and foreign tourists,” said Adriano Palman, director of the Croatian Camping Union (KUH). “Thanks to its potential, it is crucial to continue promoting this segment of tourism in eminent markets and create the foundations for its development not only in the summer season, but also in the rest of the year”.
The congress brought together the main representatives of the Croatian camping industry who spoke, in addition to the results, about new trends, opportunities for promotion, opening of new markets and development of new technologies, as well as problems of the sector, in particular the question of touristic territory. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan for the period 2021-2026 was also presented, with particular attention to opportunities.
It is important to be ready for the new season
“The pandemic has really helped to reveal its full potential and to develop Croatian camping faster, which makes up almost 25 percent of the total capacity of Croatian tourism. For this reason, it is crucial to continue investing in this segment, which can contribute to an even higher quality of our tourist offer. When we look at the year ahead, optimism prevails in tourism, but it is very important that we start preparing for the upcoming season in which we must find long-term solutions,” said director of the Croatian Tourism Association (HUT)Veljko Ostojic.
“This primarily refers to the lack of manpower, the issue of touristic land as one of the preconditions for restarting the investment cycle, but also defining measures to encourage investment, especially the law on investment promotion and distribution of funds of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Of course, we continue to live with the pandemic, which is why it is crucial to ensure a good epidemiological situation, and we can overcome all these challenges only by continuing proactive cooperation and understanding and real solutions to open problems.”
All the 2021 awards
Traditionally, the Congress also awards prizes to the best Croatian campsites in different categories. The Italian association Village for All, which for decades has been promoting accessible tourism throughout Europe and helping campsites to adapt their offer and infrastructure to this goal, presented the Kovacine campsites in Cres, Valkanela and San Servolo Wellness Resort in Istria. The Slovenian portal Avtokampi.si, the owner of which is an important promoter of Croatian camping, awarded prizes for large campsites to Valkanela, Čikat and Straško, and in the category of small campsites to Polidor, Rapoča and Lupis. In the special category of naturist camps, this year’s award went to the Koversada in Vrsar.
Within the Croatian Campsites Union project, which started almost 10 years ago with the aim of encouraging investments in quality and increasing the competitiveness of Croatian campsites offering, it was a special award in the category of small campsites, often family-run (up to 200 people), to 7 new campsites: Boutique Camping Bunja, Lighthouse, Papafigo, San Servolo Wellness Camping, Punta Jerta, Vita Mia and the new Wine Camp. Finally, in the category of medium and large campsites, a special award for quality improvement was awarded this year to the Amarin campsite.
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