TOURIST SPENDING IN 2000 EXCEEDS USD 3.3 BILLION

ZAGREB, April 18 (Hina) - Tourist spending in Croatia exceeded $3.3 billion in 2000, the Institute of Tourism said on Wednesday. Foreign tourists spent $2.5 billion, while the spending of domestic tourists has been estimated at $800 million. The figures were put forward at a round table on tourist forecasts up to 2005. President Ante Radnic outlined the Institute's estimates of the effect tourism had on the Croatian economy in 2000. When the $3.3 billion spent in tourism is divided by the sum Croatia has to spend on imports for the needs of tourism, estimated at some $837 million, tourist spending accounts for 12.5 percent of gross domestic product, which last year revolved around $20 billion. By 2005, tourist business might increase by an additional five million overnights, without major investing but with a better occupancy rate, the Institute estimates. Niko Bulic, the director of the National Tourist Office, said events like today's round table would be held twice annually in the future, in the spring at the onset of the tourist season and in the autumn when it ends, and when preparations for the next season can be made based on the results of the past one. (hina) ha sb