Tourist agencies and airlines "plan an increase in traffic from the UK to Croatia in 2023," state news agency Hina cited Tourism Minister, Nikolina Brnjac, as saying, on Monday. "More than 70 percent of Britons," she added, "said they would like to travel in the next six months."

Brnjac and the head od Croatia’s tourist board HTZ, Kristjan Stanicic, visited the World Travel Market, one of the biggest trade events for the tourism industry in the world, taking place on 7-9 November in London, and featuring over 3,000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries.

Stanicic said he was “pleased with the meetings with the biggest tour operators and airlines on the UK market,” adding that they plan an increase in traffic to Croatian destinations, mostly in the second half of 2023. “Besides the maritime destinations, there is increasing focus on continental Croatia, notably for river cruises,” he said.

Brnjac said that a European Travel Commission survey showed that “more than 70 percent of Britons would like to travel in the next six months,” including more than 50 percent who said they would like to visit European destinations.

“That potential should be tapped, and Croatia should not be promoted only as a sun-and-sea country, but one with a rich cultural and natural heritage as well as gastronomic offer and a destination for ‘active tourism’,” she said, adding that the goal is to position Croatia as a year-round and sustainable destination.

According to Croatia’s digital registry of visitors, British nationals accounted for 725,000 arrivals and 3.7 million bed nights in Croatia this year to date, an increase of over 200 percent from 2021, but still 20 percent down from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. They generated most nights in the southern Dubrovnik-Neretva and Split-Dalmatia counties.

The head of the Croatian chamber of commerce’s association of travel agencies, Boris Zgomba, told Hina the UK market was “highly dependent on the quantity of flights.”

“Revenue this year increased due to inflation, which also affected costs, so the success and profitability of the tourist year will be assessed at the end of the year,” he said, adding that he does not expect the results to be at the 2019 level, but still “generally profitable.”

He said he expected Croatian tourism in 2023 to fully reach the results achieved in 2019 “and maybe even exceed them in some aspects.”