About 11 million people have visited the national parks Plitvice Lakes, Brijuni, Kornati, Paklenica, Northern Velebit, Risnjak and Mljet in the past five years. Apart from the Slovakian woman at Plitvice, three visitors have died in Paklenica and one each in Krka and Kornati. A Brijuni National Park employee has also lost his life.
The death of the Slovakian tourist, who during a tour of the lower lakes in Plitvice Lakes National Park fell into a canyon from a height of 70 metres, is a tragic consequence of ignoring safety warning signs posted on the marked routes, the park's authorities said.
Plitvice Lakes National Park is Croatia's most visited national park, which expects a record number of more than 1.2 million visitors this year, nearly half of an expected 2.5 million visitors to all the parks this year.
"We deeply regret this tragedy, but we should note that it happened only because the visitor walked off the marked route and ignored the warning signs," Plitvice Lakes National Park spokesman Ognjen Borcic said, adding that accidents happen because of visitors' irresponsible behaviour.
Borcic said that about 10,000 people visit the park during the peak summer season and are monitored by guides and park rangers. He noted that a larger number of park rangers would increase visitor safety, but that a decision on their hiring rested solely with the government.
The second most visited park, Krka National Park, sees about 2,200 visitors on a daily basis and expects a record 800,000 this year. The park's authorities say that during the summer season they need more supervisors, but add that they also take measures on their own to increase visitor safety.
All Krka National Park employees working on the ground, including guides and receptionists, look after visitors' safety, and 18 rangers are deployed across the park to monitor visitors' movements and ensure their safety. The park's authorities say that thanks to increased safety measures the number of accidents has been reduced and in the last five years there has been only one death, when a cyclist died after feeling sick during a ride.
Paklenica National Park seems to have the best organised visitor safety service and is the only national park that has signed a cooperation agreement with the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS). It has 42 employees, including five visitor supervisors, and its 25-strong technical staff also look after visitor safety. In the last five years three persons have died during their visit to the park, two during rock climbing and one during an adventurous race, according to the park's director, Zlatko Marasovic.
On the other hand, no major safety-related incidents have been recorded in the national parks on the Adriatic islands of Brijuni, Kornati and Mljet. In the last five years there have been no fatal accidents there involving visitors, but a Brijuni National Park employee has died in an accident aboard a ship caused by a storm.
There have been no fatalities among visitors to the mountain parks of Risnjak and Northern Velebit either.