Tourism revenue in the first half of 2016 amounts to 2.4 billion euros, 153 million euros more than last year

Tourism revenue in the first half of the year amounted to 2.4 billion euros, which is 6.7 percent or 153 million euros more than in the same period last year, the Ministry of Tourism reported on Monday, citing data from the Croatian National Bank (HNB). In the second quarter of this year alone, tourism revenue, according to HNB data, amounted to 2.05 billion euros, which is an increase of 5.3 percent or 103 million euros compared to the same period last year. This refers to revenue from foreign tourists processed by the HNB, and their increase is seen by the technical Minister of Tourism Anton Kliman as an indicator of the growing importance of the pre-season for Croatian tourism.

– The increase in tourism revenue in the first half of this year shows the importance of the pre-season for tourism, but also for stimulating the overall economy. This is definitely not the maximum of Croatian tourism, and that is precisely why we are working on a project for tourism vouchers to create conditions for much better results in the pre and post-season on the Adriatic and the continent throughout the year, which will have a multiple positive impact on the economy, Kliman assessed.

He emphasizes that this year, as early as the beginning of September, the physical results of tourist traffic for the entire 2015 have already been surpassed, and therefore he expects that this year will also be record-breaking in terms of revenue, meaning that it could exceed 9.5 billion euros in revenue from domestic and foreign tourists.

The Ministry notes that the share of revenue from travel-tourism in the total GDP in the first half of this year amounted to 11.3 percent, which is an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year, while the share of revenue from travel-tourism in the second quarter of this year amounted to 18.1 percent, which is an increase of 0.1 percentage point.