There are currently more than 82,000 Italian tourists in Croatia, making them the third most numerous foreign guests, right after Germans and Slovenians, and the largest influx of Italian guests is expected this weekend, the Head Office of the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) announced on Friday.

Ahead of the “Ferragosto” holiday, there is currently great interest in Croatia in Italy, and Italians singled out Croatia, Greece, Spain and France as the most desirable foreign destinations, the director of the HTZ representative office in Italy, Viviana Vukelić, points out in a press release.

According to her, the HTZ representative office in Milan has been recording increased interest in all Croatian destinations since June.

"Bus, ferry and air lines to our country have been strengthened, especially now in the month of August, when most Italians go on vacation. We are also noticing significant interest in organized trips for young people to Croatia, especially in Novalja, and the demand for trips in this period will be most pronounced as part of last-minute arrangements", Vukelic pointed out, adding that Italians, considering the war events in Ukraine, inflation and numerous price increases in Italy, but also the fact that they themselves have the sea, they still come to Croatia.

At the same time, HTZ presents data from the eVisitor system, according to which 136,000 arrivals and 634,000 overnight stays have been achieved in Croatia in the current part of August from the Italian market, which, compared to last year, is a growth of 73 percent in arrivals and 68 percent in overnight stays.