Kalmeta informed the government's commission for monitoring the tourist season, which convened on the island of Rab on Tuesday, that in the first seven months this year Croatia had registered 4.85 million tourists, which was five percent more than in the first seven months of 2003. There were 24.66 million overnight stays (a one-percent rise).
The minister said the excellent results had been achieved despite unfavourable weather, great sports events taking place in other European countries and a recession in countries from which a majority of holiday-makers came to Croatia.
Kalmeta believes that Croatia has "won a battle against" competitors in the Mediterranean without cutting prices, and that it proved that it was a safe and well-organised country.
Finance Minister Ivan Suker said good results of the tourist season would have an impact on the state budget, adding that he hoped this August's budget revenues would increase by 12 to 15 percent in comparison to August 2003.
The commission concluded that the higher tourist turnover positively influenced business results of some companies. Accordingly, there was a rise in the number of passengers transported by ship, rail and air.
The Croatian Highways company's CEO Mario Crnjak said that 4.3 million cars had been registered on Croatian highways this year.