ZAGREB, June 16 (Hina) - Chairman of the Croatian Board of Tourism (HTZ) Head Office Marijan Bulat on Wednesday told Hina the calming of the political situation in Kosovo has affected the entire tourist region of south-east Europe,
including Croatia. Due to an increase in good news coming from foreign tourist- generating countries, the HTZ is optimistic, with moderate and realistic expectations based on the fact that the upcoming tourist season will be characterised by individual guests, Bulat said. Organised tourism however, which should have resulted in appropriate figures and quality, will fall short of expectations, he added. "The signing of the peace agreement for Kosovo and NATO's entry into that area have affected the increased interest in spending summer holidays in Croatia. All HTZ branch offices around Europe have recently been reporting on the increased
ZAGREB, June 16 (Hina) - Chairman of the Croatian Board of Tourism
(HTZ) Head Office Marijan Bulat on Wednesday told Hina the calming
of the political situation in Kosovo has affected the entire
tourist region of south-east Europe, including Croatia.
Due to an increase in good news coming from foreign tourist-
generating countries, the HTZ is optimistic, with moderate and
realistic expectations based on the fact that the upcoming tourist
season will be characterised by individual guests, Bulat said.
Organised tourism however, which should have resulted in
appropriate figures and quality, will fall short of expectations,
he added.
"The signing of the peace agreement for Kosovo and NATO's entry into
that area have affected the increased interest in spending summer
holidays in Croatia. All HTZ branch offices around Europe have
recently been reporting on the increased number of written and
personal inquiries coming from potential guests in those
countries. It is obvious however that we have to wait a few more days
for concrete results," Bulat told Hina.
Potential guests in Germany are mainly interested in camping, hotel
accommodation, and overall travelling conditions; touroperators
and tourist agencies remain very restrained.
In London, vacationing in Croatia is increasingly less connected
with the Kosovo crisis; touroperators which offered programmes for
Croatia continue to register moderate interest.
HTZ's office in Prague has literally been flooded with telephone
calls and personal inquiries, Bulat said, but added many Czech
guests complain about the high prices in Croatia.
Czech tourist agencies have been registering a mild increase in
bookings, claiming that most guests who in the past spent their
summer holidays in Croatia have in the meantime booked vacations in
Spain and Italy.
In Paris, there has been an increase in individuals' interest for
Croatia; inquiries about summer holidays have doubled twice in
comparison to the previous period. Three French touroperators
believe they will keep their groups for Croatia.
Interest has also increased in Austria, but bookings have dropped
between 30 and 50 percent in comparison to last year.
Inquiries have also increased in Budapest, as this is the time when
Hungarians decide on vacations, while in Milan the number of
inquiries has highly increased than before NATO's entry in Kosovo.
Bulat believes many individual Italian guests may be expected in
Croatia this summer, while organised tourism remains uncertain.
(hina) ha