In the first six months of 2018, 6.4 million tourists visited Croatia, generating 25.4 million overnight stay, which is up by 10 and 12 percent respectively compared to the same period in 2017, the national tourist board (HTZ) said on Wednesday.

HTZ added that in June alone there were 2.8 million tourist arrivals overall, or up 4 percent year-on-year.

Foreigners accounted for the majority of tourist visits, with 5.5 million arrivals, or 12 percent up, who recorded 22.2 million overnight stays, up by 10 percent. By country of origin, the largest groups by overnight stays were visitors from Germany, followed by Austria, Slovenia, the UK, and Poland.

Arrivals of domestic tourists were up by 10 percent in the same period, generating 11 percent more overnight stays than in the first half of 2017.

Among counties lying on the Adriatic coast, Istria registered the most overnight stays (7.4 million), followed by Split-Dalmatia county (4.5 million) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar county (4.3 million).

Continental Croatia, excluding Zagreb, registered 452,000 tourist arrivals, or 12 percent up from 2017, and 905,000 overnight stays, or 13 percent up.

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