Another year of the pandemic is behind us, and both globally and in Croatia, the tourism sector is beginning to recover. After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, almost all countries of the world introduced epidemiological measures, with the first measures being the restriction of international travel and the closure of borders. Thus, from the very beginning of the pandemic, tourism has been and remains one of the economic activities most affected by the pandemic. We bring an overview of 2020 and 2021 in the Croatian tourism sector.
Since Croatia joined the EU, tourism has continuously recorded high growth rates of overnight stays and arrivals of foreign tourists. Although there has been a six-year increase (in the period 2014-2019) in arrivals of domestic and foreign tourists by as much as + 49% and overnight stays by + 37%, it is indisputable that due to the pandemic in 2020 there was a significant decline in tourist traffic. However, in 2021, significant growth in tourist traffic continued when 71.2 million overnight stays were realized, which is at the level of almost 2015.
In 2021, there were 12.8 million arrivals (by 82.5% more) and 70.2 million overnight stays, which is 72.1% more than in 2020. Foreign tourists realized 10.6 million overnight stays (+ 91 .9%) and 62.8 million overnight stays (77.6% more). Of these, most tourists come from Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. The most visited cities were in the Istria County – Rovinj, Porec, Umag, Funtana, Medulin, and Pula. Then follows Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, and the City of Zagreb.
Table 1. Arrivals and overnight stays of foreign tourists by country of residence
| COUNTRY | ARRIVALS | OVERNIGHT STAYS | 2021. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020. | 2021. | INDEX 2021./2020. | 2020. | 2021. | INDEX 2021./2020. | STRUCTURE OF OVERNIGHT STAY (%) | AVERAGE NUMBER OF NIGHTS PER ARRIVAL | |
| Foreign countries – total | 5 545 279 | 10 640 809 | 191,9 | 35 379 064 | 62 847 827 | 177,6 | 100,0 | 5,9 |
| Germany | 1 480 454 | 2 737 013 | 184,9 | 11 739 390 | 19 931 221 | 169,8 | 31,7 | 7,3 |
| Poland | 642 927 | 957 439 | 148,9 | 4 353 828 | 6 287 267 | 144,4 | 10,0 | 6,6 |
| Slovenia | 769 264 | 994 990 | 129,3 | 4 727 223 | 6 127 362 | 129,6 | 9,7 | 6,2 |
| Austria | 355 457 | 1 025 521 | 288,5 | 2 097 557 | 5 682 370 | 270,9 | 9,0 | 5,5 |
| Czech Republic | 481 458 | 720 913 | 149,7 | 3 212 204 | 4 783 597 | 148,9 | 7,6 | 6,6 |
| Hungary | 211 620 | 431 257 | 203,8 | 1 167 009 | 2 286 255 | 195,9 | 3,6 | 5,3 |
| Slovakia | 145 310 | 327 294 | 225,2 | 970 540 | 2 189 144 | 225,6 | 3,5 | 6,7 |
| Netherlands | 85 270 | 373 600 | 438,1 | 563 923 | 2 153 507 | 381,9 | 3,4 | 5,8 |
| Italy | 228 458 | 417 253 | 182,6 | 1 231 506 | 1 996 481 | 162,1 | 3,2 | 4,8 |
| France | 137 823 | 375 905 | 272,7 | 527 671 | 1 304 091 | 247,1 | 2,1 | 3,5 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 116 360 | 256 949 | 220,8 | 542 414 | 1 245 749 | 229,7 | 2,0 | 4,8 |
| UK | 118 514 | 221 471 | 186,9 | 595 914 | 1 096 876 | 184,1 | 1,8 | 5,0 |
| Switzerland | 90 593 | 193 789 | 213,9 | 486 431 | 884 657 | 181,9 | 1,4 | 4,6 |
| USA | 51 767 | 263 690 | 509,4 | 247 808 | 815 033 | 328,9 | 1,3 | 3,1 |
| Ukraine | 73 621 | 138 271 | 187,8 | 453 023 | 783 573 | 173,0 | 1,2 | 5,7 |
| Russia | 22 774 | 132 509 | 581,8 | 128 764 | 673 681 | 523,2 | 1,1 | 5,1 |
| Serbia | 67 264 | 124 680 | 185,4 | 367 443 | 660 425 | 179,7 | 1,1 | 5,3 |
| Denmark | 33 891 | 82 798 | 244,3 | 207 618 | 517 159 | 249,1 | 0,8 | 5,3 |
| Sweden | 37 394 | 84 868 | 227,0 | 184 281 | 464 447 | 231,4 | 0,7 | 6,2 |
| Ireland | 7 735 | 25 524 | 330,0 | 36 484 | 111 068 | 304,4 | 0,2 | 4,4 |
| Norway | 3 565 | 21 455 | 601,8 | 17 715 | 112 916 | 637,4 | 0,2 | 5,3 |
| Japan | 7 360 | 4 770 | 64,8 | 15 11 | 14 451 | 95,6 | 0,1 | 3,0 |
| Mainland China | 9 280 | 10 326 | 111,3 | 26 068 | 29 672 | 113,8 | 0,1 | 2,9 |
| Korea, Republic of | 23 396 | 5 817 | 24,9 | 33 252 | 16 556 | 49,8 | 0,1 | 2,8 |
Source: CBS
From Table 1. we can conclude that the pandemic in 2020 has affected a large decline in the number of arrivals and overnight stays of foreign tourists. The largest decline was in the UK (-86.2%), USA (-84.2%), the Netherlands (-80.4%), Italy (-76.0%), BiH (-70.4%), Austria (-70.3%), Slovakia (-65.6%), Hungary (-65.6%) and Switzerland (-56.5%). In 2020, most tourist overnight stays were realized in Rovinj (1.75 million overnight stays, 54.5% less than in 2019), followed by Poreč (1.2 million overnight stays, 81.0% less), Crikvenica 971.1 thousand overnight stays, less by 46.8%), Zadar (823.0 thousand overnight stays, less by 59.3%), Split (811.9 thousand overnight stays, less by 70.3%), City of Zagreb (780.0 thousand overnight stays, 70.4% less) and Dubrovnik (776.0 thousand overnight stays, 81.9% less) than in 2019. Thus, we can conclude that the impact of the pandemic has greatly affected the decline in arrivals and overnight stays of foreign tourists.
2020 is far more optimistic. If we look at Table 1., we can conclude that most tourists who come overnight stay from Germany, Poland, and Slovenia – even half of them (51.4%). Likewise, we can see that the seven countries in 2021 (from Germany to Slovakia) directly determine the total number of overnight stays by foreign tourists. They account for 75.1% of overnight stays and 71.0% of foreign tourist arrivals, while all other countries participate with 24.9% of overnight stays and 29.0% of arrivals. If we observe compared to 2020, the number of tourist arrivals from foreign countries increased by 91.9% and overnight stays by 77.6%. The countries that contributed the most to the increase in overnight stays were Germany (+ 84.9%), followed by Poland (+ 48.9%), Slovenia (+ 29.3%), and Austria (+ 188.5%).
Although we can say that the tourism sector in Croatia suffered disproportionate damage during the pandemic compared to most other economic activities, available indicators suggest that the arrival of foreign tourists is increasing at lightning speed. The fact that we are close to the main emitting markets is also in favor, and the structure of foreign guests’ arrivals in Croatia is dominated by road transport, while air transport is much less represented, unlike competitors (Greece, Cyprus, Portugal depends heavily on air transport). Road connectivity has proven to be an advantage in the pandemic era as air transport has seen significantly more disadvantages than road transport.
What kind of tourist year will this be for Croatia? Taking all the above into account, with a high dose of probability we can say that it should be quite good. We will be able to confirm or refute our speculations only after the season. Therefore, we are leaving speculation to analysts, as we are going to search for our next destination for summer vacation!
