In the first five months of 2021, Croatia observed a rise in tourist arrivals by 42% YoY and a rise in tourist nights by 38% YoY.

With the improvement of the epidemiologic situation in Europe and Croatia, in May 2021, we see a sharp increase in tourist arrivals and nights compared to May 2020. According to the report of the Croatian National Tourist Board, In May 2021 the number of tourist arrivals reached 0.45m (vs. only 86,413 in May 2020). Meanwhile, tourist nights reached 1.88m, representing an increase of 259% YoY. We do note that the average stay was shortened in May to 4.2 nights (from 6 nights in May 2020).

The numbers are encouraging, given that almost 80% of nights realized come from foreign tourists. Of that, tourists from Germany lead the list with 31.3 % of total nights realized, followed by tourists from Slovenia (8.6%).

When observing the arrivals realized in May by counties, Istria leads the list with 29.5% of total arrivals and 33.8% of total tourist nights. When observing the type of accommodation, camps account for 26.3% of total nights, followed by private accommodation and hotels with 24.2% and 23.6%. Also notable, nights realized in nautical accommodation account for 9.7%.

When observing the tourist development since the beginning of the year, tourist arrivals are up by 42% YoY, while tourist nights noted a rise of 38% YoY.

Where does Croatia stand upon the beginning of the summer season?

Looking at the table below we can see how the tourist segment must perform in the following four months to reach the numbers of the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

Arrivals needed to reach 9M 2019 levels (in the next four months)

Source: Croatian National Tourist Board, InterCapital Research

Tourist nights needed to reach 9M 2019 levels (in the next four months)

Source: Croatian National Tourist Board, InterCapital Research