Excellent results and tourist trends from last year are confirmed by the tourist traffic achieved during the Christmas and New Year holidays in Croatia. Namely from December 23, 2022 to January 8, 2023, there were more than 214,000 tourist arrivals and 594,000 overnight stays in Croatia, which compared to the 2021/2022 holidays represents a growth of 28 percent in arrivals and 19 percent in overnight stays.
"With this result, we concluded the previous year very successfully and entered 2023 in a positive tone and atmosphere. With the aim of maintaining these positive trends, we are preparing a series of promotional activities, campaigns, presentations, as well as fair performances. Thus, in addition to informational activities and campaigns related to the introduction of the euro and our country's entry into Schengen, we will present Croatia at fairs in Madrid, New York, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Utrecht in January," said Kristjan Staničić, the director of the Croatian Tourist Board, praising the high-quality and the rich tourist offer of numerous destinations that attracted numerous foreign guests to Croatia during the holidays.
During the Christmas and New Year holidays, the most overnight stays were realized in Istria (133 thousand), in Kvarner (123 thousand) and in Zagreb (97 thousand). About 60 thousand overnight stays were realized in Split-Dalmatia County, more than 40 thousand in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, more than 32 thousand overnight stays in Zadar County, while more than 17 thousand overnight stays were realized in Šibenik-Knin County.
"According to the latest research by the European Travel Commission, Croatia is one of the most sought-after travel destinations in this part of the year, and we want to maintain that status. In our development and promotional activities, we emphasize the offers available throughout the year and the fact that Croatia, by entering the Schengen area and the Eurozone, is an even closer and a safer destination", said Nikolina Brnjac, Minister of Tourism and Sports.
In addition to domestic guests who spent the most overnight stays in the mentioned period, more than 190 thousand, among foreign tourists, the most overnight stays were Austrians, more than 77 thousand, while Slovenians spent about 62 thousand, Germans more than 55 thousand, and Italians more than 37 thousand.