According to findings of a survey conducted by the national tourist board, Croatia's tourist industry expects an increase in turnover during the forthcoming Easter holidays, state agency Hina said on Wednesday, adding that "uncertainties stemming from the war in Ukraine" could impact the expected results.

During the Easter holidays last year, when Easter fell rather early, on 4 April, Croatia registered 36,000 tourist arrivals and 140,000 overnight stays. This year, as Easter falls on 17 April, more visitors are expected, as more people usually come whenever the holiday takes place later in the month. Easter holidays and spring breaks are usually seen as heralds of the summer season and an indicator of how many tourists might visit Croatia this year.

According to the survey, tourism officials in the northern Adriatic coast around the port city of Rijeka and the southern Dubrovnik-Neretva County seem the most upbeat about this Easter season, reporting they expects a 20 percent increase in the volume of visitors compared to last year. The Istria and Zadar counties expect a 16 percent and 20 percent increase respectively, while the Sibenik and Split areas project a 10 percent increase.

On the country’s mainland, the capital city of Zagreb expects an increase of more than 20 percent. During the Easter holidays, many seaside hotels – which are normally closed in the wintertime – usually start opening their doors – and this year the highest number of hotels that have announced their reopening in mid-April are in the Dubrovnik and Sibenik counties.