TOURIST ARRIVALS AND NIGHTS, 2021

 

In 2021, there were 70 million tourist nights, 72.1% more than in 2020

In 2021, there were 12.8 million tourist arrivals and 70.2 million tourist nights in commercial accommodation establishments, which was 82.5% more tourist arrivals and 72.1% more tourist nights compared to 2020. Compared to 2019, there were 34.7% less tourist arrivals and 23.1% less tourist nights.

In the first two months of 2021 there was a decrease in tourist arrivals and nights in commercial accommodation compared to the first two months of 2020. In the period from March to December 2021, however, an increase was recorded in tourist arrivals and nights in commercial accommodation compared to the same period in 2020, presumably because tourists travelled safer and more freely due to the existing epidemiological measures and recommendations aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 disease.

Domestic tourists realised 2.1 million arrivals and 7.4 million nights, which was an increase in tourist arrivals of 46.6% and in tourist nights of 35.8%, as compared to 2020. Compared to 2019, domestic tourists realised 3.5% less arrivals, but 3.6% more nights.

Foreign tourists realised 10.6 million arrivals and 62.8 million nights, which was 91.9% more tourist arrivals and 77.6% more tourist nights than in 2020. Compared to 2019, foreign tourists realised 38.7 less arrivals and 25.3% less nights.

Traditionally, tourists from Germany realised the most arrivals and nights

The most foreign tourist arrivals and nights in 2021 were realised by tourists from Germany, as much as 2.7 million arrivals and 19.9 million nights (25.7% of the total realised foreign tourist arrivals and 31.7% of the total realised foreign tourist nights). Tourists from Germany recorded an increase in arrivals of 84.9% and an increase in nights of 69.8% in 2021, as compared to 2020.

These were followed by the nights realised by tourists from Poland (10.0%), Slovenia (9.7%), Austria (9.0%) and the Czech Republic (7.6%). All these countries recorded an increase in tourist nights in 2021, as compared to 2020. The nights realised by tourists from the mentioned countries together accounted for 68.0% of total foreign tourist nights.

The highest number of tourist arrivals and nights recorded in the County of Istria

The County of Istria recorded the highest number of tourist arrivals and nights in 2021, as much as 3.4 million arrivals and 21.7 million nights, which accounted for 26.4% of the total realised arrivals and 31.0% of the total realised tourist nights in commercial accommodation in 2021. Compared to 2020, there were 94.2% more tourist arrivals and 89.8% more tourist nights in the County of Istria.

The highest number of tourist arrivals and nights in 2021, following the County of Istria, was realised by the County of Split-Dalmatia, with 2.3 million tourist arrivals and 13.5 million tourist nights, and the County of Primorje-Gorski kotar, with 2.2 million arrivals and 12.4 million tourist nights. All these counties recorded an increase in tourist arrivals and nights in 2021, as compared to 2020.

The highest number of tourist nights in the County of Istria was realised in camping sites, as much as 8.9 million nights, which was 41.0% of the total realised tourist nights in the County of Istria. These were followed by nights realised in rooms, apartments and summer houses, 7.3 million, which was 33.4% of the total number of tourist nights realised in the County of Istria.

Rovinj – Rovigno, city with the highest number of tourist nights in 2021

In 2021, the highest number of tourist nights was realised in cities in the County of Istria: Rovinj – Rovigno with 3.4 million tourist nights, Poreč – Parenzo with 2.4 million tourist nights, Medulin with 2.1 million nights and Umag – Umago with 1.9 million nights. The number of tourist arrivals and nights increased in all four cities, as compared to 2020.

Foreign tourists spent the most nights in Rovinj – Rovigno and domestic tourists in the City of Zagreb

While domestic tourists spent the most nights in the City of Zagreb, Crikvenica, Zadar, Mali Lošinj and Vodice, which was 17.5% of the total nights of domestic tourists, foreign tourists spent the most nights in Rovinj – Rovigno, Poreč – Parenzo, Medulin, Umag – Umago and Dubrovnik, which was 17.7% of the total nights of foreign tourists.

The most tourist nights were realised in the group Holiday and other short-stay accommodation

In 2021, the most tourist nights were realised in the group Holiday and other short-stay accommodation, as much as 37.0 million, which accounted for 52.7% of total realised tourist nights. Compared to 2020, this type of accommodation recorded an increase in tourist arrivals of 61.4% and in tourist nights of 50.1%.

These were followed by the nights realised in the group Camping sites and camping grounds, where 17.5 million nights were realised, which accounted for 24.9% of total realised tourist nights in 2021. In 2021, compared to 2020, in the group Camping sites and camping grounds, the number of tourist arrivals increased by 99.8% and the number of tourist nights by 91.5%.

In the group Hotels and similar accommodation, 15.7 million nights were realised, which was 22.4% of total realised tourist nights. Compared to 2020, twice as many tourist arrivals and nights were realised in this type of accommodation.

The most rooms and permanent beds were available in the group Holiday and other short-stay accommodation

In 2021, there were 415 thousand rooms, apartments and camping sites available to tourists, with 1.1 million permanent beds.

In the group Holiday and other short-stay accommodation, tourists had a total of 247 thousand rooms and apartments at their disposal (which was 59.5% of the total number of available rooms and apartments) with 657 thousand permanent beds (which was 60.4% of the total number of available permanent beds).

In the group Hotels and similar accommodation, tourists had 79 thousand rooms and apartments at their disposal (which was 19.0% of the total number of available rooms and apartments) with 165 thousand permanent beds (which was 15.2% of the total number of available permanent beds). In 2021, an average occupancy rate of rooms was 41.6% and of permanent beds it was 42.5%, while in 2020, an average occupancy rate of rooms was 24.9% and of permanent beds it was 25.4%.

Tourists aged up to 14 realised the highest number of tourist nights in 2021

In 2021, tourists aged up to 14 realised the most nights, 13.8 million, which accounted for 19.7% of the total realised nights. They were followed by tourists aged 35 to 44, who realised 13.3 million nights, which accounted for 18.9% of the total realised nights.

Notice

Detailed annual data are available on the web site of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics www.dzs.hr, under "CBS Databases", where it is possible to browse and print data in various forms.

PNG PNG PNG PNG

 

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

The purpose of the statistical survey

The purpose of the statistical survey is to monitor the tourist activity realised in commercial accommodation establishments and to provide internationally comparable data in accordance with European standards for tourism statistics. The results of this survey ensure the basic indicators necessary for the analysis of tourism in the Republic of Croatia. The basic indicators are the following: tourist arrivals and nights by country of residence, types of accommodation establishments, tourists by sex and age groups, mode of arrival as well as the number of rooms and permanent beds.

Legal basis

The survey is implemented on the basis of the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20) and the Regulation No. 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism.

Observation units

The observation units are all legal entities and parts thereof, natural persons as well as households that provide short-stay accommodation services to tourists.

Sources and methods of data collection

Since 2017, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics has been taking over data on tourist traffic (the number of tourist arrivals and nights) and accommodation capacities from the Croatian National Tourist Board, extracting them from the eVisitor system, and further processes them statistically.

By publishing the Ordinance on Managing Tourist Records and the Form and Content of the Check-in Form for Checking in Tourists in Tourist Boards (NN, No. 126/15), the eVisitor system has officially become the central electronic system for checking in or checking out tourists in the Republic of Croatia, in effect since 1 January 2016.

Coverage and comparability

Reporting units are all business entities (enterprises/trade companies, craftsmen, institutions, associations, etc.) and parts thereof engaged in providing accommodation services in tourism: health institutions for their own establishments in which persons stay for medical rehabilitation (costs are on persons themselves); business entities that founded or take care of mountain resorts; business entities that use schools, homes and similar establishments as temporary accommodation capacities during school vacations.

All accommodation establishments categorised according to the Ordinance on Classification, Minimum Standards and Categorization of Accommodation Establishments (NN, Nos 48/02, 108/02, 132/03, 73/04, 67/06, 88/07, 58/08, 62/09, 63/13, 33/14, 92/14, 9/16, 54/16, 56/16, 61/16 and 69/17) are as follows: hotels, heritage hotels, all-suite hotels, integral hotels, diffuse hotels, special-standard hotels, spa-type accommodation, tourist resorts, tourist apartments, boarding houses, guest houses, camping sites, small camps, quickstop camping, quickstop camping – Robinson-type accommodation establishments, rooms, apartments, studio-type suites, summer houses, rural summer houses, overnight accommodations, vacation establishments for children, hostels, mountain lodges, hunting lodges, pupils’ homes or students’ homes and Robinson-type accommodation establishments.

Pursuant to Article 29 of the Hotel and Restaurant Activity Act (NN, Nos 85/15, 121/16 and 99/18), this statistical survey also covers organised off-site camping sites. During sports, scout, cultural/artistic and similar events as well as during organised trips in canoes and similar vessels on sea, rivers and lakes, or by bikes etc., organised off-site camping is allowed on spaces provided for it.

Save the accommodation establishments categorised by the Ordinance, this statistical survey also encompasses the following establishments offering accommodation services: spas, inns offering accommodation services and uncategorised establishments.

Accommodation establishments in households, according to the Hotel and Restaurant Activity Act (NN, Nos 85/15, 121/16 and 99/18), are establishments in which accommodation services are provided in a room, suite, summer house or summer house – Robinson-type accommodation with the total of 10 rooms, that is, 20 beds (extra beds are not included) as well as  accommodation services in camping sites, quickstop camping or quickstop camping – Robinson-type accommodation establishments with the total of 10 accommodation units, that is, for up to 30 guests at the same time, which does not include children up to 12 years of age. Accommodation services on private family farms, according to the Hotel and Restaurant Activity Act (NN, Nos 85/15, 121/16 and 99/18), means accommodation services in a room, suite, summer house or summer house – Robinson-type accommodation with the total of 10 rooms, that is, for up to 20 permanent beds (extra beds are not included) as well as accommodation services in camping sites, quickstop camping or quickstop camping – Robinson-type accommodation establishments with the total of 20 accommodation units, that is, for up to 60 guests at the same time, which does not include children up to 12 years of age.

Pursuant to the Regulation No. 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism, data on tourist arrivals and nights in the Republic of Croatia according to the NKD 2007., division 55, groups 55.1 Hotels and similar accommodation, 55.2 Holiday and other short-stay accommodation and 55.3 Camping sites and camping grounds are submitted to the Eurostat on a monthly basis. Data submitted on group 55.1 Hotels and similar accommodation also include information on occupancy rates of permanent beds and rooms (net). The mentioned data are published on Eurostat’s web site http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat and are comparable to EU Member States data.

The data do not include non-commercial tourist traffic (the stay of owners and their relatives and friends in villas and summer houses as well as of tourists in other establishments where accommodation service is not charged, e.g., when they are accommodated by citizens of a tourist town/municipality). Non-commercial tourist traffic is covered by a separate statistical survey.

Confidentiality

Aggregate data for which there are reasons for keeping their confidentiality in line with the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20) and with the Regulation No. 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European statistics are treated as confidential and are not published.

Definitions

Tourism means the activity of visitors taking a trip to or staying in a main destination outside their usual environment for less than a year, for the purposes of leisure, business or other personal purposes other than to be employed by a resident entity in the place visited.

eVisitor is the central electronic system for checking in and checking out tourists that serves to link all tourist boards in the Republic of Croatia. It is available via internet with no need for any additional software installations.

The tourist registry in the eVisitor system is kept separately for every legal entity and natural person offering accommodation services as part of the hotel and restaurant activity (boarding houses, hotels, hostels, etc.), or on a sea vessel as part of the nautical tourism (charter, cruising), as well as accommodation services in households and rural households.

Checking in and checking out the tourists who are entered into the eVisitor system is authorised on the basis of a secure access to the eVisitor authentication protocol which ensures the conditions for a safe and correct electronic check-in and check-out.

Establishing and running the eVisitor system is the responsibility of the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB).

CNTB is a national tourist organisation founded in order to create and promote the identity and reputation of the Croatian tourism, to plan and implement a common strategy and concept of its promotion, to propose and perform the promotional activities of mutual interest for all entities in tourism in the country and abroad, as well as to raise the overall quality of the entire tourist offer in the Republic of Croatia. The head office of the CNTB is situated in Zagreb. The duties of the President of the Croatian National Tourist Board are undertaken by the Minister of Tourism.

Tourist is every person who, outside his/her place of usual residence, spends at least one night in a hotel or some other accommodation establishment for reasons of rest, recreation, health, study, sport, religion, family, business, public tasks or meeting. Excluded are persons staying at their place of usual residence for longer than 12 months in succession, persons whose main reason for visiting is an activity that is financed from the place of visit, persons that travel to their work place or an education institution on a daily or weekly basis, persons coming into or going out of the country as migrants, border-line workers, diplomats, consular representatives and military force members on their regular duties, displaced persons, nomads and persons in transit.

Domestic tourist is a person permanently residing in the Republic of Croatia who spends at least one night in a hotel or some other accommodation establishment outside his or her place of permanent residence.

Foreign tourist is a person permanently residing outside the Republic of Croatia who temporarily resides in the Republic of Croatia and who spends at least one night in a hotel or some other accommodation establishment.

Tourist arrival is the number of persons (tourists) who arrived and registered their stay in an accommodation establishment. Consequently, in case tourists change the accommodation establishment they stay in, they are re-registered, which results in data ambiguity. Statistics thus register the number of tourist arrivals and not the number of tourists.

Tourist nights refer to every registered overnight stay of a person (tourist) in an accommodation establishment.

Residence is the place where a person came with the intention of permanently staying there.

Age group of tourists is presented according to the years of age at the time of a stay in a tourist accommodation establishment.

Accommodation capacities are presented as the number of rooms, apartments and camping sites, and the number of permanent beds. The application of the Regulation No. 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European tourism statistics means that the capacity of an accommodation establishment presented is taken over from the month when it reached its maximum.

Permanent beds are those that are regularly available to guests.

Occupancy rate of permanent beds (gross) in the reference period is obtained by dividing the total number of realised nights by the number of beds and the number of days in a month. The data is expressed as a percentage.

Division 55 of the NKD 2007. includes short-stay accommodation service activities to tourists. Particular units may only provide accommodation services, while others may combine the services of accommodation, catering and/or recreation equipment. Tourist accommodation establishments listed in this division are broken down into four groups.

Group 55.1 Hotels and similar accommodation includes the following types of accommodation establishments: hotels, heritage hotels, all-suite hotels, integral hotels, diffuse hotels, spa-type accommodation, special standard hotels, tourist resorts, tourist apartments, boarding houses and guest houses.

Group 55.2 Holiday and other short-stay accommodation includes rooms, apartments, studio-type suites, summer houses, rural summer houses, hostels, spas, overnight accommodation, vacation establishments for children, inns offering accommodation services, mountain lodges, hunting lodges, pupils’ homes or students’ homes and Robinson-type accommodation establishment.

Group 55.3 Camping sites and camping grounds include camping sites, small camps, quickstop camping, quickstop camping – Robinson-type accommodation establishments and organised off-site camping sites.

Group 55.9 Other accommodation includes uncategorised establishments.

Territorial constitution

Data by counties, cities and municipalities are given by the territorial constitution according to the Act on County, City and Municipality Areas in the Republic of Croatia (NN, Nos 86/06, 125/06, 16/07, 95/08, 145/10, 37/13, 44/13, 45/13 and 110/15).

 

Abbreviations
COVID-19	COrona Virus Disease-19
Eurostat	Statistical Office of the European Communities
NKD 2007.	National Classification of Activities, 2007 version
NN	Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia
USA	United States of America

The survey whose data are published in this First Release has been conducted with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

 

Published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Zagreb, Ilica 3, P. O. B. 80.
Phone: (+385 1) 4806-111, Fax: (+385 1) 4817-666
Press corner: press@dzs.hr

Persons responsible:
Edita Omerzo, Director of Spatial Statistics Directorate
Lidija Brković, Director General

Prepared by:
Ivana Brozović and Jasna Perko

USERS ARE KINDLY REQUESTED TO STATE THE SOURCE.

Customer Relations and Data Protection Department

Information and user requests
Phone: (+385 1) 4806-138, 4806-154
E-mail: stat.info@dzs.hr
Fax: (+385 1) 4806-148

Subscription
Phone: (+385 1) 4806-115
E-mail: prodaja@dzs.hr
Fax: (+385 1) 4806-148