In the first eight months of 2023, Croatia recorded an 8% increase in the number of tourist arrivals and a 2% increase in overnight stays compared with the same period in 2022, the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) said on Tuesday.
Citing data from eVistor, the national tourist check-in and check-out system, the HTZ said that 16.2 million arrivals and 88.5 million overnight stays were recorded in the first eight months of 2023, the same as in the record-breaking pre-pandemic year 2019.
Broken down by counties, the largest number of arrivals and overnight stays was recorded in Istria (4 million arrivals (+4%) and 25 million overnight stays (+2%)), Split-Dalmatia County (3 million arrivals (+9%) and 16.4 million overnight stays (+2%)) and the northern Adriatic region of Kvarner (2.6 million arrivals (+3%) and 15.4 million overnight stays, the same as in 2022).
Zagreb reported 1.6 million overnight stays, up by 15% from last year, while the rest of continental Croatia recorded 1.9 million overnight stays, an increase of 14%.
Broken down by destinations, the largest number of overnight stays was recorded in Rovinj, followed by Dubrovnik, Porec, Split and Umag. The majority of overnight stays were generated by visitors from Germany (18.8 million overnight stays), Croatia (10.6 million), Slovenia (9 million), Austria (6.6 million) and Poland (5.7 million).
In August alone, 4.6 million tourist arrivals and 31.5 million overnight stays were recorded. Compared with August 2022, the number of arrivals increased by 1%, while the number of overnights stays fell by 2%.
Despite the present circumstances, including the impact of global inflation and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Croatia has achieved an excellent result, which will be further strengthened in the post-summer season, HTZ director Kristjan Stanicic said.