Record Number of Overnight Stays in Karlovac

With 34,328 overnight stays recorded in the first nine months of this year in the City of Karlovac, the total number of overnight stays at the end of 2014 has been surpassed by 1,345. Compared to the same period last year, the number of overnight stays this year has increased by as much as 28 percent.

Additionally, 26,887 recorded tourist arrivals in the first nine months represent a 20 percent increase compared to last year’s nine months, resulting in the desired growth in the ratio of overnight stays per arrivals. Given the indicators achieved so far, the Tourist Office of the City of Karlovac already claims that 2015 will be convincingly the best year in terms of overnight stays in the last 10 years.

Looking at the emitting criterion, 27,037 or 78.76 percent of this year’s overnight stays were achieved by foreign tourists, among whom those from the Republic of Korea lead with a share of 17.3 percent of overnight stays, followed by Germans with 10 percent, Poles with 7.5 percent, Italians with 3.5 percent, and Austrians with 3.5 percent share of the total number of overnight stays. Tourists, especially foreigners, mostly stayed in Karlovac hotels where 19,907 overnight stays were recorded, in various forms of private accommodation such as rental rooms, apartments, and studio apartments, 12,275 overnight stays were achieved, in hostels 1,485 overnight stays were recorded, while in the Radonja camp 661 overnight stays were reported.

Only in September, there was an increase in the number of overnight stays by as much as 31 percent compared to September last year, and the entire nine-month dynamics of arrivals and overnight stays, according to Tihana Bakarić, director of the Tourist Office, exceeded expectations and the planned annual growth rate, although there are still many positions and opportunities for increasing growth.

– The average length of stay for tourists in Karlovac, according to data for the period from January to September, is 1.3 days, which is not satisfactory, as it does not align with the expected growth outlined in the Strategy. Therefore, efforts must continue to improve the content and length of stay for tourists in the city. According to our data, there has been a significant increase of 13% more overnight stays in hotel accommodation compared to the same period last year, which is a significant contribution to the total number of overnight stays. Good results have also been contributed by significant promotional activities in foreign and domestic markets, into which, thanks to the support of the HTZ, the largest funds to date have been invested during the past and this year, said Tihana Bakarić.