Croatia – a hit destination for Britons for a short holiday

The strategy of Croatian tourism in the British market is no longer about large numbers and low prices, but rather about special interest tourism, an increase in flights to Croatia and the number of destinations that British tourists will visit, as well as the extension of the season.

These are the messages from the Minister of Tourism Veljko Ostojić at today’s Croatian press conference at one of the world’s most important tourism fairs, WTM in London. At the conference, which gathered more than 50 British and other foreign journalists, it was announced that Croatia is considered by British tourism professionals to be the best upcoming destination for short trips from Britain, for which Minister Ostojić was awarded the ‘Travel Agent Choice Awards 2012’ presented by the British publisher BMI Publishing Ltd.

Announcing news in Croatian tourism for the next year, Ostojić mentioned the upcoming reduction of the VAT rate for tourism, as well as the already current zero rate for reinvesting profits, which should contribute to increasing investments in the sector and employment.

He assessed the British market as important for Croatian tourism, emphasizing that this year arrivals and overnight stays of British tourists have increased by more than 20 percent compared to last year. This growth could continue next year, by 5 to 10 percent, given the announcements from tour operators, the increase in the number of flights from low-cost airlines, as well as British Airways, which will launch a year-round London-Zagreb route starting December 9 of this year.

The new director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ), Meri Matešić, who has been the director of HTZ’s office in London for the past five years, believes that Croatia has a good foundation for increasing traffic from Great Britain.
This is supported by the relative recovery of Great Britain from the crisis and a slight increase in travel by British tourists worldwide this year, reaching 60 million trips, for which they spend around 35 billion pounds.
Additionally, there is a growing interest among Britons for the whole of Croatia, where it is most important to offer a quality and content-rich stay with many motivations for coming, such as activities based on cultural and natural heritage, sports, and enogastronomy. It is also necessary to improve the facilities and communication about these facilities, as there is often not enough information about what can be done in Croatia outside of summer, said Matešić.

As part of the conference, renowned British wine expert Joe Wadsack held a presentation (and tasting) of Croatian wines from Matošević, Kozlović, Krauthacker, and Tomić, highlighting that Croatia is an extremely exciting wine destination with diverse and indigenous varieties.