About 400 senior delegates and representatives of VisitBritain, British Airways, EasyJet, TUI, Thomas Cook and other travel agencies met in Podstrana near the southern Adriatic city of Split for the Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT) conference which will continue until Wednesday.

The hosts of this international conference are the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board and the city tourist boards of Split and Hvar.

This is an annual conference organised by the British association of tourism professionals, the ITT, whose members are general managers and leaders in the British tourism industry.

HTZ Director Krstjan Stanicic welcomed the conference participants. Talking to reporters, he underscored that he was satisfied with the results of the first five months of this year because of the increase in tourism turnover.

Stanicic believes that a lot of the participants at the conference will return as tourists.

“Trends in tourism and modes of travel change, but Croatia is withstanding all that,” he said.

The director of the county tourism board, Josko Stella, said that by attending a few lectures, tourism workers learned in what direction travel agencies and the tourism industry in general are heading.

ITT president Steven Freudmann said that leading British managers see Croatia as a main destination but also as an opportunity to make a profit and that is why they aim to bring as many guests as possible. He said that the beauty of the nature and the islands is attractive to those who love nature and natural beauties.