Croatia will implement a “sustainability-first strategy” to “avoid the mistakes” of other Mediterranean countries, according to its tourism director.
Speaking at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, Kristjan Staničić, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, told Travel Weekly: “Croatia has changed the strategy for future tourism, and the main focus will be on sustainability.
“We want to avoid some mistakes from our competitor countries in the Mediterranean and avoid the overtourism in many Croatian coastal destinations, so this is an opportunity to develop the tourism infrastructure and offering as a fundamental part of Croatia.”
Croatia has adopted a new tourism law which has “strictly defined standards of sustainability” for destinations, Staničić said.
“Every destination will have an obligation to create their own sustainable development tourism plan which will be based on a strict analysis of capacities from accommodation to traffic and communal infrastructure,” he explained.
“Everything is connected with the quality of life of local people, because we want to show the local people that tourism is not something bad, but it’s something good, and we want to live with tourism in many destinations.”
Croatia is “not at the point yet” of overtourism which has led to protests in other Mediterranean destinations this summer, he said, as it had adopted this strategy “at the right time” to “avoid the scenario of those destinations”.
“I’m sure that within the next three years, we will see a different picture of Croatia tourism,” he added.
Investment in new hotels and tourism attractions between 2025 and 2027 will be “focused on sustainability”, either through using renewable energy, mostly domestic and or organic construction products and ensuring “the right relationship” between accommodation capacities and communal infrastructure.
Croatia has seen a 9% increase in British arrivals year on year with a total of more than 850,000 tourists, making the UK the country’s sixth-largest inbound market.
Staničić added that UK tourists spend more than the average tourist in Croatia, and there has been a noticeable uptick in younger tourists visiting for sports and music events plus for a “certain value between quality of service and price”, along with older visitors coming in off-peak months attracted by natural sights, cultural heritage and gastronomy.
In future, he would like to see an increase in shoulder season bookings, in particular in the spring and autumn months, while maintaining the same level of visitors in peak July and August.
He said: “We would like to emphasise that Croatia has a diverse tourism offering and product not only in the summer season.
“We have music and sports events, many outdoor activities like cycling which are popular for groups from the UK to do, and high-quality accommodation, gastronomy and everything which when you put it in a package is very attractive for travellers all year round.”
He added: “We are focused on sustainability and a higher level quality of service. That is our strategy and target for the future.”
Picture credit: Author Ivo Pervan. Source CNTB.