| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 03/07/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 33 |
| Copyright: Other |
CROATIA AND
SLOVENIA
The two countries are finally witnessing an end to bad publicity. Operators are seeing a rise in demand and an increase in capacity.
Croatia and Slovenia are emerging from the tourism wilderness with a rise in popularity and operators are preparing for a comeback.Charters are operating again after the conflict that all but ended mass tourism in the 1990s, and Croatia Airlines has raised capacity to Dubrovnik and Split to cope with the demand.
Arrivals to Croatia last year totalled 50,890, down 17,000 on 1998 but operators say they have faith in the products with twin-centre holidays offering a combination of mountain scenery and beach resorts.
Balkan Holidays sales executive Andy Baker said: “Our bookings are up on this time last year and I think they will increase even more.”
Slovenia saw 4,877 British arrivals between January and April, an increase of 12% on the same period last year.
Croatian tourist office general manager Zvone Ciglic said: “We are pleased with the results. There is more demand as far as skiing is concerned and the season will be better for us.”
Acting director Jofip Lozic added: “Croatia has done well this year and client satisfaction is at the highest level.”
The signs are that this year will see the beginnings of a rise in the destinations’ fortunes.
On June 16, Croatian Airlines introduced a direct flight from Heathrow to Dubrovnik and from mid-August, an extra service will depart from Manchester. Split is serviced twice a week from Gatwick and once a week from Manchester.
Palmair is reintroducing charters from Bournemouth to Dubrovnik in August, and Transun Holidays is also resuming whole-plane charters later this summer. As of September, the Croatian specialist will run charters from Belfast, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Exeter.
Transun director John Healey predicts a surge in late bookings during July. “These whole-plane charters are a high commitment and show confidence in the country,” he said.
“We’ve targeted 12,000 bookings this year, an increase over 1998’s 8,000 – putting us at pre-1991 levels.”
Holiday Options marketing manager Rupert Diggins said: “It is going well and we are delighted with the results.”
Despite the optimism, outdated opinions about the destinations are hampering growth. This is something operators are keen to address by educating both agents and the public.
Palmair managing director David Skillicorn said: “The real problem is that the buying public still regard it as Yugoslavia and that brings up too many images in people’s minds.”
Fam trips are seen by operators as pivotal in this change.
Transun’s Healey added: “Once people have been to Croatia, they will go again. The product is good and improving.
“Croatia must speculate to accumulate. The tourist authorities need to pump money into advertising to educate people about what the country offers.”
Both tourist authorities are operating on limited funds this year despite support from their governments. It is hoped that this season’s arrivals will generate more revenue for advertising campaigns next season.
City-break specialist Travelscene is hopeful its Zagreb short break, launched in 1998, will attract more business.
Commercial manager Paul Stanley said: “When we launched Zagreb in 1998 it was very slow. We are optimistic that the more adventurous and independently minded client will find the city interesting.”
Dubrovnik: direct flights to the city are on the increase