During October 2023, the total number of tourist arrivals amounted to 1.07m, representing a 14% increase YoY. Total tourist nights meanwhile, amounted to 3.6m, a 12% growth YoY. However, when compared to 2019, both the number of tourist arrivals and nights declined, by 4%, respectively. Finally, on a YTD basis compared to 2019, tourist arrivals and nights also declined, both by 1%, respectively.
Yesterday, the Croatian Tourism Board, HTZ, published the latest report on the developments recorded in Croatian tourism, for the month of October 2023. According to the report, the total number of tourist arrivals amounted to 1.07m, growing by 14% YoY. Of this, foreign tourist arrivals amounted to 853k, representing 80% of the total, and increasing by 16% YoY. Meanwhile, domestic arrivals amounted to 215k, growing by 4% YoY.
On the flip side, the number of tourist nights amounted to 3.6m, growing by 12% YoY. Foreign tourist nights amounted to 3.1m, representing 86% of the total and increasing by 13% YoY, while domestic tourist nights amounted to 499k, increasing by 4% YoY. Here we can see signs of improvement on a YoY basis, but the increase in October could also be partly attributed to the fact that significant price increases across the board were recorded during the 3-month main summer season. As such, some of the tourists might have decided to postpone their vacation for a later period, possibly contributing to this success. In terms of the average stay per person, it amounted to 3.41 days, decreasing by 1.2% YoY.
Total tourist arrivals and tourist nights in Croatia (January 2019 – October 2023)
Source: HTZ, InterCapital Research
In terms of the types of accommodation, during October 2023, 88% of the tourist nights were registered in commercial accommodation, 4% in non-commercial accommodation, and 8% went to the nautical charter. Inside the commercial accommodation, hotels accounted for 54%, or 1.5m of tourist nights, followed by private accommodation at 24%, or 761k of tourist nights. 13% of nights went to camps, while the remaining 9% went to other types of accommodation. In terms of the most active markets, Germany recorded 24% of tourist nights, followed by domestic tourists at 14%, Austria at 8%, as well as Slovenia and the UK, both at 7%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the best counties during October 2023 were Splitsko-dalmatinska, at 810k nights, followed by Istra at 753k, Dubrovačko-neretvanska at 538k, Kvarner at 523k, and Zadarska, at 333k of tourist nights. Moving on, when compared to 2019, October recorded 4% fewer tourist arrivals. Foreign tourist arrivals which make up the majority decreased by 8% during this period, which was partly offset by a 15% increase in domestic tourist arrivals. On the other hand, total nights decreased by 4%, with foreign nights increasing by 1%, while domestic nights decreased by 28% YoY. Lastly, on a YTD basis compared to 2019, both the total tourist arrivals and tourist nights decreased by 1%, respectively. Of this, domestic tourist arrivals increased by 16%, while foreign tourist arrivals decreased by 3%. On the flipside, domestic tourist nights decreased by 6%, while foreign nights remained roughly the same.
Due to all of these developments, it would seem that the situation is quite mixed; even though a YoY growth was recorded, the numbers are still behind 2019. As October is considered a “post-season” period, it would seem that some of the arrivals/nights that lagged behind during the season were transferred to October. However, the drop compared to 2019 could also mean that Croatia does not seem as attractive as before (both due to the post-season effect and also due to higher prices witnessed across the industry). As such, this development does not seem to be that positive for the entire Croatian tourism strategy – that of making it sustainable and running for longer periods of time.
