In the entire year of 2015, Croatia recorded more than 14.3 million tourist arrivals, which is 9.2 percent higher compared to the previous year, so total tourism revenues could reach a record 8 billion euros, according to analysts at Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA).
Last year, Croatia achieved more than 71.6 million tourist overnight stays, which is an increase of 5.1 million overnight stays, or 7.7 percent compared to the previous year.
Both domestic and foreign tourists recorded an increase in overnight stays – by 11.3 and 7.4 percent year-on-year, respectively, analysts at RBA noted on Monday in their commentary on the recent report from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS).
“The strong growth of physical indicators in tourism indicates that total tourism revenues recorded in the balance of payments in 2015 could exceed the level of 8 billion euros,” emphasize RBA analysts.
An income of 8 billion euros would be a record tourist revenue and 8 percent higher than in 2014, when it amounted to 7.40 billion euros.
They also state that the spillover of positive effects from good results in tourism will reflect on other components of gross domestic product (GDP), especially on personal consumption, which shows signs of slight growth.
“In the year ahead, we expect the continuation of positive trends in the number of tourist arrivals and overnight stays, although, after the record year of 2015, we expect somewhat milder positive growth rates,” conclude RBA analysts.
