The main tourist season in Croatia is over, but the off-season could last

The main tourist season in Croatia is over, but as there are tourists who want to come despite the tightening of regulations in some countries, the off-season could last, and according to occupancy and reservations, facilities will remain open, although possibly for a shorter time than planned due to measures from some markets, says HUT director Veljko Ostojić.

Commenting in an interview with Hina on the achievements in Croatian tourism this year, especially in hotels and camps of companies that are members of the Croatian Tourism Association (HUT), which are among the largest and leading in Croatia, Ostojić emphasizes that the foundation of this season’s success is safety and that Croatia is the Mediterranean winner in the summer peak season.

"We can all be proud of that; we had a quality epidemiological situation at the beginning of the main tourist season, thanks to the great efforts of epidemiologists, the crisis management system, and the Government, and we recorded exceptional interest from tourists. However, now, with the deterioration of the epidemiological situation, we find ourselves in problems regarding the continuation of the season", Ostojić assesses, adding that everyone in tourism warned that the entire season should not be jeopardized due to a few clubs and weddings, but that is exactly what happened in the end.

However, even now, after some countries have placed Croatia on red lists, Ostojić says that we should not give up on the rest of the season, as tourism accounts for about 20 percent of domestic GDP and "giving up on tourist revenues in September and even October would not be responsible, neither from us in tourism nor from anyone in Croatia".

With epidemiological improvements, the off-season could last

From that perspective, he also points out that "most countries that have tightened travel regimes for their citizens to Croatia have clearly communicated the numbers we need to return to in order to be placed back in the category of safe countries, without restrictions. This should also be viewed as a result of the continuous work of our institutions, because when things are clear and transparent, then you know what needs to be done."

This all means that by the end of August, September, and the overall future period, as well as the previous tourist season, will be determined by the epidemiological situation in the country and in certain counties or regions.

"If in the next ten days we manage to significantly improve the epidemiological situation and as a result, the travel regimes from certain countries change, we can expect that some hotels and camps will operate until the end of October, possibly one in the destination being open all year round," says Ostojić, noting that hoteliers do not have expectations from the congress off-season for which they will need to wait for better times.

He also believes that the HZJZ, national and local crisis management teams have put in a lot of effort since the very beginning of the epidemic and that HUT has cooperated well with everyone, as well as that more can always be done, especially in communication. However, instead of criticism, he believes it is more appropriate to seek solutions.

Thus, HUT has launched a website Covid-19 regional tracker this summer to increase transparency and show that the epidemiological situation is not the same in all parts of the country, updating data from the crisis management team daily, which has been viewed by about 350 thousand people, and believes that part of the reason for their decision to come to Croatia was due to this information.

They also issued 12 weekly newsletters with the most significant tourist information, which they sent to over a thousand addresses and communicated daily, although this is not the primary purpose of HUT’s existence, with domestic and foreign media, tour operators, and individuals solely with the aim of making the season in Croatia as good as possible.

High occupancy of camps and hotels, but lower revenues

Regarding the occupancy of facilities in the peak season, he reveals that it was best in camps, over 80 percent, while hotels had an occupancy of over 70 percent, with large facilities, both camps and hotels with more than 50 beds, recording the best occupancy in these accommodation categories, with it being clear that occupancy increases with the number of stars or quality.

The hotel houses on the northern Adriatic performed best, which was also expected given that this is the year of car tourists, as everyone wanted to avoid the risks of shared transport, distant destinations, potential sudden repatriations, and similar situations.

State assistance and ‘quick’ measures needed by the end of August, also for workers

However, the financial results, says Ostojić, will be lower than the physical ones, which is also expected, and the achieved revenues will definitely not be sufficient for ‘survival’ and state assistance will be needed as it was from March to August.

"We expect a quick definition of measures. HUT has provided its proposals to the relevant ministry and we expect responses by the end of August at the latest. Otherwise, processes for managing surplus workers will begin," reveals Ostojić, noting that they are satisfied with the first messages sent by the new Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac, as well as the overall commitment to tourism from the Prime Minister and the Government.

It seems, he says, that there is an understanding in the Government that tourism needs a set of short-term measures to maintain liquidity and jobs, and then a set of long-term measures to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the entire sector, for which they also expect concrete measures soon.

"It is certain that the EU Recovery Fund and the new financial envelope will help us all, for which we must prepare with concrete programs and projects. Discussions about this have been initiated and it seems to me that we are on the right track. We also have a new tourism development strategy ahead of us, and we expect active involvement from the sector and the adoption of ambitious, but also pragmatic and implementable results, because another strategy that will remain dead letters on paper is not needed by anyone," believes Ostojić.

For success, recognition, quality, and sustainability remain key, but there is still much work to be done

Although tourism is at a turning point globally in these circumstances and it seems that the coronavirus will forever change some of the established ways of working in tourism and even tourists’ expectations, Ostojić still considers recognition, quality, and sustainability to be key to success.

"We must focus on this, because on these ‘pillars’ we must enhance the overall competitiveness of Croatian tourism and there is much work ahead of us," he said. He believes that, in addition to the new tourism strategy, a number of fiscal issues need to be resolved – bringing VAT to the level of Mediterranean competition, which is important for investments, increasing the number of hotels with incentive measures, but also improving spatial planning, reducing bureaucracy, refining the law on foreigners and the issue of permanent seasonal workers, and organizing the system of tourist boards with stronger control over the spending of funds.

He adds that it is necessary to continue implementing the Law on Tourist Land and to adopt a regulation that will regulate the issue of rental prices.

"In the sector, we expect the exemption from paying the fee for tourist land for this and next year due to a significant reduction in revenues," concludes Ostojić.

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