More than 600,000 tourists are currently holidaying in Croatia, and some counties have a 60 percent occupancy rate compared to the same time last year, while by the end of the year the tourism results on a country level could reach 40 percent of last year, said Tourism Minister, Gari Cappelli, said on Monday.

"Today we have almost 600,000 tourists, mostly foreigners, and there are about 90,000 locals. Croatia is a safe destination no matter what happens," Cappelli said after a session of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ).

Greece, he said in comparison, currently has only seven percent of turnover compared to last year. On the other hand, Croatia has over 50 percent of its turnover in July compared to last year, and more than 30 percent at the level of the previous part of the year.

He pointed out that in some counties, such as Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar, more than 60 percent of arrivals are realized compared to last year. According to him, tourism workers are well prepared for the epidemiological conditions in which they work.

However, the tourism results in the south of the country are considerably less positive than Istria, with Dubrovnik the hardest hit.

He stated that the prices of tourist services were reduced in a number of destinations, on average by 10 to 30 percent. The accommodation sector has seen wildly different approaches to prices. Some hotels and private apartments have stuck to the same prices from last year, whilst others have dropped them by up to 300 percent. According to online booking agencies a good sized family apartment in a central location in Dubrovnik this summer is around 50 Euros a night.

The largest tourist turnover so far this year has come from the markets of Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria. This is hardly surprising as tourists from these countries can drive to Croatia, with Istria being the first coastal destination.