Domestic tourism in the European Union has seen a faster recovery from the consequences of the first wave of the epidemic than foreign tourism, and Croatia is among countries with the mildest drop in domestic overnight stays, according to Eurostat data.

In 2020, the tourism sector was hit hard by the travel restrictions at the end of Q1 and at the beginning of Q2, which resulted in a sharp drop in the number of tourists in March and April compared to the same period last year.

In June, most countries started to relax the restrictions, but tourists still had to undergo quarantine after returning from some foreign destinations, and the result was a faster recovery of domestic tourism than of foreign tourism, Eurostat said.

After a 93% slump in April, domestic tourism in the EU came closer to last year’s level in July, with a 22% decrease in domestic overnights stay in tourist accommodation. Overnight stays of foreign guests dropped by 64%, according to Eurostat.

Biggest jump in Slovenia

The Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovenia registered more domestic overnight stays in July 2020 than in July 2019. In Slovenia, their number more than doubled.

In Croatia, the number of domestic overnight stays in July 2020 was 8.1% lower than in July 2019. The number of overnight stays of foreign guests fell by 44.6% compared to July last year.

This placed Croatia among EU countries with the mildest drop in overnight stays by domestic and foreign guests, together with Cyprus, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Austria and Latvia.

The biggest drop in the number of foreign visitors, of over 80%, was registered by Spain, Portugal, Finland and Romania, the report by the Europan statistical office has shown.