According to latest estimates, the tourist industry accounts for 14-16 percent share of Croatia's GDP, significantly up from the last Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) calculated by the Institute for Tourism research organisation some four years ago.

However, the exact impact of the industry on the nation’s GDP is still a matter of educated guesswork. The central bank data is based on a poll that only tracks foreign visitors’ spending – excluding domestic tourists who also flock to the seaside every summer – and the state statistics bureau’s data does not track income from the sailing and boating tourism sectors, speakers attending a panel at the Institute for Tourism in Zagreb said on Friday, Poslovni Dnevnik reported on Monday.

Other segments of the industry which are thought to be significant but untracked family-run bead and breakfasts which are outside the VAT law, as well as day trips to Croatia when no overnight stays in the country are recorded.

Although the Tourism Ministry, in cooperation with the Institute for Tourism, is working on creating an updated TSA, it is not known when the project would be completed. However, it is known that the share of the tourist industry is affected by a high degree of seasonality, imports, and a large portion of accommodation facilities which are outside the VAT law, and therefore untracked, Poslovni Dnevnik said.

“It’s because of this strong seasonality that the Croatian economy cannot support the demand in tourist industry, it does not have the capacity to supply an extremely packed tourist peak season, with very low demand outside the season at the same time. Because of this, the tourist industry is forced to turn to imports, and hiring seasonal workers, which leads to a relatively low employment level in tourism compared to tourist revenue, but also compared to other competitor countries,” said Marina Tkalec of the Institute of Economics (EIZ).

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.