The first half of 2024 ended positively for tourism in Croatia, with growth compared to last year in both arrivals (+7.9%)and overnight stays (+3.3%). The data, provided by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS), confirm 6.9 million arrivals and 24.8 million overnight stays in Croatian accommodation facilities from January to June.
Both foreign tourism, which recorded an 8.5% increase in arrivals (5.7 million) and a 3.3% increase in overnight stays (21.9 million), with an average stay of 3.9 nights, and domestic tourism, with a 5.5% increase in arrivals and a 3.5% increase in overnight stays, with an average stay of 2.4 nights, showed growth. Among foreign tourists, Germans accounted for the highest number of overnight stays (5.4 million, or 24.4% of the total foreign tourist overnight stays), followed by Austrians (10.7%), Slovenians (9.9%), Poles (7.7%), British (5.6%), Czechs (4.4%), Italians (3.6%), and Americans (3.3%).
June: arrivals up, overnight stays down
Focusing on the month of June alone, which marks the beginning of the summer vacation season, there were 2.8 million arrivals (+3.4% compared to June 2023), while overnight stays totaled 12.5 million, a 5% decrease, largely due to a drop in overnight stays by German tourists (-32.1% compared to the same period last year). There was also a decrease in the number of German tourist arrivals (-19.4% in June).
Foreign tourism accounted for 92.7% of the total overnight stays in June, with an average stay of 4.6 nights. Domestic tourism saw growth in both arrivals (+2.1%) and overnight stays (+0.6%), with an average stay of 3.1 nights. Among foreign tourists choosing Croatia for their holidays, Germans ranked first (accounting for 15.1% of arrivals and 21.6% of total foreign tourist overnight stays), followed by Austrians, Poles, Slovenians, Czechs, British, and, to a lesser extent, Italians and Hungarians.
Hotels good, campsites down
Resorts and tourist villages registered the highest number of overnight stays in June, with 5.9 million, accounting for 46.9% of total overnight stays (although this figure is down 5% compared to June 2023). This is followed by overnight stays in large hotels and similar facilities (27.6% of total overnight stays, an increase of 0.4% compared to June 2023) and overnight stays in campsite and camping areas, which represent 25.5% of total overnight stays, with a decrease of 10.3% compared to the same period last year.
As for destinations, foreign tourists (led by Germans) preferred Rovinj for their overnight stays, although the figure (608,000 overnight stays) is down 10.5% compared to June 2023. Other destinations with high numbers of foreign tourist overnight stays included Dubrovnik, Poreč, Split, and Umag. Domestic tourism, on the other hand, was concentrated in Crikvenica (44,000 overnight stays in June 2024, down 7.5% from 2023), followed by Zagreb, Mali Lošinj, Biograd na Moru, and Umag.
The most represented age group was tourists aged 55 to 64, who accounted for 2.1 million overnight stays in June, or 16.9% of the total. Of these, 95.2% were foreign tourists.
Arrivals and overnight stays down in July
According to data from the eVisitor system, the month of July ended with a slight decline compared to July 2023 (-0.5%). Specifically, total tourist traffic (foreign and domestic tourists) in July registered 4.67 million arrivals (-3.2%) and 29.45 million overnight stays (-0.5%). In absolute terms, this represents 155,154 fewer arrivals and 166,869 fewer overnight stays.
However, this data can be explained by various uncertainties that influenced travel during this period, the war in Ukraine, inflation, as well as the simultaneous hosting of the Olympic Games in Paris and the earlier European Football Championships, two events that certainly attracted a large audience of visitors to France and Germany.
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