Large increases in tourist arrivals and stays were recorded in Croatia in May 2018, close to 40 percent year on year, the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ) said on Tuesday.

According to data from the eVisitor and eCrew systems, 1.7 million tourists visited Croatia in May, generating 6.5 million overnight stays, while in the first five months of 2018 3.6 million tourists visited the country, generating 11.6 million overnight stays.

Foreign visitors accounted for most of arrivals in the first five months – 2.9 million – and they generated 9.9 million overnight stays, which is 22 percent and 27 percent more respectively compared to the same period of last year.

Domestic arrivals increased by 10 percent, with overnight stays increasing by 7 percent.

HTZ data shows that the northern Adriatic county of Istria leads in terms of overnight stays, with 2 million overnight stays in May and 3.4 million in the first five months of 2018.

The north Adriatic region of Kvarner and Split-Dalmatia County reported 1.8 million overnight stays each in the first five months, followed by Dubrovnik-Neretva County with 1.4 million overnight stays, Zadar County with 925,000 overnight stays, and Zagreb with 820,000 overnight stays.

The HTZ also pointed to good results in counties in inland Croatia. Not including Zagreb, counties in the country’s interior reported 334,000 visitors and 693,000 overnight stays in the first five months, up 17 percent and 15 percent on the year.

The majority of visitors came from Germany, followed by Austrians and Slovenians, and visitors from the United Kingdom and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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