HTZ Director Kristjan Staničić has told Hina that since the beginning of 2024, Croatia has been registering a rise in the tourism industry turnover, +9% in arrivals of guests and +6% in their overnight stays compared to the same period in 2023.
"This gives rise to optimism."
The Easter holidays usher in the period of more intensive travel, and coastal destinations are attractive to visitors from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia as well as for guests from Croatia, according to Staničić.
The sought-after destinations are Dubrovnik, Rovinj, Poreč, Zagreb, Split, Zadar and Opatija.
60% of hotels to open their doors to guests for Easter
This March, over 500 hotels have been opened and Staničić expects nearly 60% of hotels to be opened for the Easter holiday season.
The director of the Croatian Association of Tourism, Veljko Ostojić, said that an estimated 100,000 tourist arrivals and 400,000 overnight stays can be expected between Friday and Easter Monday.
This year, Easter is earlier than last year, and therefore some figures could be lower than in the cases when this religious holiday falls in the second half of April.
As a moveable feast, Easter can fall on dates between 22 March and 25 April. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which is the first full moon on or after 21 March.
Ostojić told Hina that hoteliers expect a good tourist season in 2024, and 95% of those who were covered by a survey had more bookings for March this year in comparison to March 2023.