Abta’s decision to base next year’s Travel Convention in Croatia appears to have been made with an eye firmly on the future of what promises to be a growing UK holiday destination.
Ahead of the announcement at this month’s Abta event in Belek, Turkey, a lot of smart money would have been put on Spain for next year.
The traditional beach destination, still a favourite for millions of Brits, is a very keen host of the association’s annual get-together and has been the venue for four of the past six events.
And if a longstanding convention had been applied it was actually the turn of Palma in 2013, although the event was held in the Majorcan capital just last year.
New city, new country
So, Dubrovnik it is for 2013, a new city and a new country for the Travel Convention and one described as a “massively overlooked” by the UK travel trade.
Of the many seats on budget carriers operating to the country only 500,000 are currently sold annually as fully inclusive trips.
On Holiday Group, which has just announced a new five-year deal with Croatia’s largest inbound operator Atlas, believes a lack of logistical support in its destinations has held it back.
Ivan Gadže, chief executive of Atlas, said: “Many flying programmes to Croatia run only from mid-May to September; Atlas hopes to encourage low-cost carriers to extend the season to include April and October.
“Historically, UK visitors always visited Croatia from April to October since Croatia enjoys high temperatures and sunshine levels during these shoulder months.
“Having the backing of the dynamic packaging sector and hotels willing to offer great value deals should allow us to persuade airline partners to extend their programmes to a full summer season.”
Top holiday destination
Prior to the war in the Balkans in 1990 and subsequent break-up of Yugoslavia, the country was a major UK holiday destination with more than 1.5 million visitors a year.
Now Brits represent just 2% of international arrivals, the Germans and other European nationalities leading the return to the country over the last decade.
Many Brits who have visited Dubrovnik of late will have done so via the growing number of cruise ships operating in the Adriatic making calls to ports along the Dalmatian Coast.
On Holiday Group believes Croatia can become the next big dynamic packaging destination and has worked to group its resorts according to the six international airports that serve it.
It is also developing systems to enable pre-bookable transfers, and is in talks with Croatian tourism officials about creating all-inclusive offerings that suit British holidaymakers.
Unlike standard all-inclusive packages in many European destinations, these would typically allow guests to choose to eat in local restaurants – an option favoured by Croatian hoteliers.
Steve Endacott, chief executive of On Holiday Group – a personal view of Croatia
Yugoslavia was a major UK tourist destination. However, the 1990 war has resulted in a lost generation of British tourists over the past 20 years.
To be blunt it seems to have fallen off the UK tourist map, with few operators focusing on the region and even fewer travel agents actively promoting it.
When Yugoslavia broke up into separate country states, Croatia inherited virtually the entire coastline and tourism infrastructure.
In September, Ivan Gadže, chief executive of Atlas, hosted me on a four-day tour of the key Croatian resorts and I was very impressed.
The hotel infrastructure has been fully modernised and offers a wide range of four to five-star hotels with numerous local restaurants.
Croatia has the same homely feel found in the smaller Greek islands, where the tourist infrastructure encourages dining out and strolls along seaside promenades.
It is one of the most beautiful destinations I have visited, and every hotel seems to have a direct view of its blue sea and stunning coastline.
Although Croatia will enter the EU in June 2013, it will retain its own currency at a fixed rate to the euro. The average price of a beer is £1.70 and a meal in a top restaurant about £30.
Croatia is a massively overlooked opportunity by UK agents and it’s only a two-and-a-half-hour flight away.