July the 14th, 2024 – Traditionally, Croats would head to the coast each summer. Be that to their own homes by the sea or those of family or friends. That trend is gradually altering, with more and more Croats opting to travel abroad.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croats are increasingly choosing to head off on holiday outside the borders of Croatia. The favourite destinations over more recent years have been Spain, Greece, Turkey and Egypt.
“We’re going to Spain, to Cordoba. We have relatives there, so we are going to visit them this year,” said Mirela.
“We’re travelling to Malaga in Spain, that is, a small town close to Malaga. Last year we went with the children, we were in Cyprus, so this year we decided to explore something else”, said Vanja from Čakovec.
Other Croats are also exploring foreign destinations instead of solely flocking to the Croatian coast each summer. Those who travel through travel agencies most often choose other Mediterranean countries.
Where to spend the summer, it seems, is not in question at all for Croats living abroad.
“When it comes to summer holidays for the sake of my family, I choose Croatia because it’s our homeland,” said Toni from Ireland.
“Why would I choose a foreign destination over our beautiful Croatia?” asked Pero from Germany.
“Croats living abroad typically choose destinations like Vir, Crikvenica, Opatija, Split… in fact all the destinations that are at the top of Croatian tourism in general. That’s obviously because those destinations have the best range of offers and content that Croatian guests living abroad are looking for,” said Kristijan Staničić, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ).
Habits there are also slowly changing, however. Croats tend to always prefer to travel to family accommodation to hotels. When actually on holiday, they usually spend more and more time on recreation and outdoor activities.
“I’d say that there is also a certain love for the homeland, so many Croats still do decide to stay in their own country. Our numbers confirm that we’ve also seen four percent growth in arrivals and one percent growth in overnight stays from the domestic market,” Staničić said.
That is very good news because, after all, Croats, along with the ever faithful Germans, are the most important guests for Croatian tourism.
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