In September 2024, Croatia recorded 2.4m of tourist arrivals, and 13.1m of tourist nights, representing a decrease of 5% and 3% YoY, respectively. On the other hand, compared to 2019, Croatia recorded a 5% higher number of tourist arrivals and a 3% higher number of tourist nights. In this article, we overview the rest of the data and what could it mean for the industry in general.
Starting off with the numbers, Croatia recorded 2.4m tourist arrivals in September, of which 2.16m were foreign tourists, and 236k were domestic tourists, representing a decrease for both foreign and domestic arrivals, of -5% and -2%, respectively. In terms of the tourist nights, a total of 13.1m were recorded, of which 11.9m were foreign, while 1.2m were domestic tourists. While domestic nights remained unchanged YoY, foreign nights decreased by 3%. As a result of these changes, the average stay per person amounted to 5.5 nights in September, a slight increase of 2% YoY.
Total tourist arrivals and nights in Croatia (January 2019 – September 2024)
Source: HTZ, InterCapital Research
When compared to 2019 however, we do see an improvement, although it is quite worrying that it took 5 years to finally overcome this year at the height of the summer season. In total, tourist arrivals grew by 5% compared to 2019, driven by a 3% increase in foreign arrivals, and a 29% increase in domestic arrivals. Furthermore, total nights grew by 3%, driven only by a 5% increase in foreign tourist nights, while domestic tourist nights decreased by 14%.
In terms of accommodation type, 85% of nights in September were registered in commercial accommodation, 10% in non-commercial, and 5% came from nautical accommodation. Inside the commercial accommodation, 39% of nights were achieved in private accommodation, 29% in hotels, 23% in camps, while 9% went to other accommodation types.
The majority of tourist nights in September came from Germany, which recorded 27% of the total nights, followed by domestic tourists at 10%, Austria at 9%, Slovenia at 8%, Poland at 7%, and the UK at 5%. As expected, Istria was the most visited county, recording 3.6m, or 28% of all nights, followed by Splitsko-dalmatinska at 2.7m, Kvarner at 2.1m, Zadarska at 1.78m, and Dubrovačko-neretvanska at 1.2m.
Moving on to the results in the first 9M of the year, total arrivals grew by 2.8% YoY to 19.3m, while total nights grew slightly by 0.4% to 102.6m. Meanwhile, compared to 2019, total arrivals grew slightly by 2%, while total nights remained unchanged.
When we look at all of these numbers, there are more questions raised than answers. Was the change in weather towards colder and rainier September the cause of the reduction in tourist nights? Has the backlash from the growth in prices finally caught up with the industry? Or are other Mediterranean destinations offering both more content and more reasonable prices? Or are we witnessing what the Ministry of Tourism has touted for a long time as their goal, i.e. the growth and spread of the industry into the remainder of the year?
The answers to these questions would likely be “Yes, but…”. Whatever the objective truth may be, one thing is certain. Suppose Croatia wants to not only maintain but grow its position as one of the best Mediterranean destinations. In that case, it will require a lot more than citing strategies and plans that go on for years, and more often than not repeat the same challenges to the industry and offer the same or similar solutions. What was the definition of insanity again?
