Croatia has seen more travellers and overnight stays so far this year than in the same period in 2023, and the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), hoteliers and travel agencies expect the positive trend to continue during the Easter holidays.

The director of the HTZ, Kristjan Stanicic, told the Croatian news agency Hina that since the beginning of 2024, Croatia has recorded an increase in turnover in the tourism industry, +9% in arrivals of guests and +6% in their overnight stays compared to the same period in 2023.

The Easter holidays herald the time of more intensive travelling and the destinations are attractive to visitors from Italy, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia as well as guests from Croatia, Stanicic said.

The most popular destinations are the Mediterranean cities of Dubrovnik, Rovinj, Porec, Zagreb, Split, Zadar and Opatija.

60% of hotels open their doors to guests at Easter

More than 500 hotels have opened this March and Stanicic expects almost 60% of hotels to be open for the Easter holidays.

The director of the Croatian Tourism Association, Veljko Ostojic, said that an estimated 100,000 tourist arrivals and 400,000 overnight stays are expected between Friday and Easter Monday.

As Easter is earlier this year than last year, some figures may be lower than in cases where this religious holiday falls in the second half of April.

Ostojic told Hina that hoteliers expect a good tourist season in 2024. 95% of hoteliers surveyed had more bookings for March this year than for March 2023.