NON-COMMERCIAL TOURISM ACTIVITY, 2023

A total of 485 thousand arrivals and 10.9 million tourist nights recorded in non-commercial accommodation in 2023

There were 485 thousand tourist arrivals and 10.9 million tourist nights in non-commercial accommodation establishments in 2023, which was 2.1% more tourist arrivals and 5.4% more tourist nights, as compared to 2022. Of the total of 10.9 million tourist nights, 41.3% of nights were realised by domestic tourists, while 58.7% were realised by foreign tourists. Tourists realised 22.5 nights on average.

Domestic tourists realised 111 thousand arrivals and 4.5 million nights in non-commercial accommodation, which was an increase in tourist arrivals of 2.7% and in tourist nights of 3.6%, as compared to 2022. Domestic tourists realised 40.7 nights on average.

Foreign tourists realised 375 thousand arrivals and 6.4 million nights in non-commercial accommodation, which was 2.0% more tourist arrivals and 6.7% more tourist nights than in 2022. Foreign tourists realised 17.1 nights on average.

Traditionally, the highest number of foreign tourist nights in non-commercial accommodation realised by tourists from Slovenia

Tourists from Slovenia realised the most foreign tourist arrivals and nights in 2023 in non-commercial accommodation, that is, 113 thousand tourist arrivals and 2.7 million nights, which accounted for 30.3% of the total realised foreign tourist arrivals and 42.7% of the total realised foreign tourist nights. As compared to 2022, tourists from Slovenia realised 1.7% more arrivals and 12.2% more nights.

Those were followed by the nights realised by tourists from Bosnia and Herzegovina (12.8%), Germany (10.4%), Serbia (7.7%), Austria (4.4%), the Czech Republic (3.3%) and Hungary (2.9%). The nights realised by tourists from these countries together make up 84.2% of the total nights realised by foreign tourists in non-commercial accommodation. Tourists from other countries realised 15.8% of nights.

The County of Zadar recorded the most tourist nights in non-commercial accommodation establishments

As in the previous years, the largest number of tourist nights in non-commercial accommodation establishments was recorded in the County of Zadar, as much as 4.2 million nights (which was 38.8% of the total realised tourist nights), followed by the County of Primorje-Gorski kotar with 2.6 million nights (which was 24.0% of the total realised tourist nights) and the County of Istria with 1.6 million nights (which was 14.6% of the total realised tourist nights).

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

Purpose of the statistical survey

The statistical survey is aimed at monitoring the tourist activity in non-commercial accommodation establishments in the Republic of Croatia and providing internationally comparable data in line with the European standards concerning tourism statistics. The results of this survey ensure the basic indicators necessary for the analysis of tourism in the Republic of Croatia.

Legal basis

The survey is carried out 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.

Sources and methods of data collection

Until 2016, data on tourist activity in non-commercial accommodation establishments were collected in a regular survey (TU-11v form – the Report on Tourists Arrivals and Nights in Non-Commercial Accommodation Establishments).

Since 2016, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics has extracted the data on non-commercial tourism activity from the eVisitor system, the administrative data source of the Croatian National Tourist Board, and further processes them statistically.

Data on non-commercial tourist activity for 2023 were extracted from the eVisitor system with the situation as on 6 March 2024.

The owner of a summer house or apartment, regarding himself/herself and all persons who spend the night in his/her house or apartment, as well as a resident of a tourist municipality or a town who is obligated, according to the Ordinance on the eVisitor System (NN, No. 43/20), to register persons staying in his/her house or apartment, can execute check-ins and check-outs of tourists in the eVisitor system, as the central electronic system of check-ins and check-outs of tourists in the Republic of Croatia.

Coverage and comparability

Since 1996, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics has carried out a special survey on non-commercial tourism activity called the Report on Tourists and Realised Tourist Nights in Apartments and Summer Houses (TU-11v form).

The subjects of this survey are the owners of summer houses and apartments, members of their families, other relatives and friends who stay in summer houses and apartments, specifically, in parts of summer houses and apartments that are not intended for renting. Since 2014, this survey has also included tourists who stay in other establishments that are not intended for renting (e.g., with citizens of a particular tourist town/municipality).

According to the Tourist Tax Act (NN, Nos 52/19, 32/20 and 42/20), the owner of a summer house, apartment or flat is obligated to check in all persons staying in his/her house, apartment or flat in the eVisitor system within 24 hours of their arrival as well as to check them out on the last day of their stay. Exceptionally, the owner of a summer house, apartment or flat, who pays the tourist tax as an annual lump-sum, checks in and out himself/herself and members of his/her immediate family for the first time when paying the lump-sum tourist tax in the tourist board. A person residing in the municipality or town for which the local tourist board was established is obligated to check in all persons staying in that house, apartment or flat in the eVisitor system within 24 hours of their arrival and check them out on the last day of their stay, except immediate family members.

The quality of the survey results depends on the discipline of checking in and checking out the persons staying in non-commercial accommodation establishments as well as the operation of authorities supervising this phenomenon.

Definitions

Tourist tax is the income of tourist boards. Tourist tax in non-commercial accommodation establishments is paid for every realised night or, exceptionally, as a package deal (sojourn tax decreased by 70%). Paying the sojourn tax as a package deal is applied to the owners of summer houses and apartments and immediate family members who are citizens of the Republic of Croatia or the countries who signed the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

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 the internet without the need for special installation on a computer.

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.

Also, the tourist registry in the eVisitor system is kept for the owners of summer houses and apartments, for all persons spending nights in that house or apartment, as well as for the citizens of a tourist town/municipality who have an obligation of checking in persons staying in their house or apartment.

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

The Croatian National Tourist Board (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 conception 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 Tourist Board are undertaken by the Minister of Tourism.

Summer house, apartment or holiday flat is every building or apartment that is used seasonally or temporarily, but which is not an accommodation establishment in which accommodation services are rendered by legal entities and natural persons engaged in the hotel and restaurant activity.

Tourist nights in the observed period are calculated by the eVisitor system as the difference between the date and time of actual departure (check-out) and the date and time of arrival (check-in).

Tourist is every person who, outside his/her place of permanent residence, spends at least one night in a commercial or non-commercial accommodation establishment. Excluded are persons staying in a certain place for longer than 12 months in succession, persons whose main reason for visiting is an activity that is financed in 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, borderline workers, diplomats, consular representatives and military force members on their regular duties, displaced persons, nomads and persons in transit.

Tourist boards are organisations that operate on the principle of destination management. They are established in order to promote and develop tourism in the Republic of Croatia and the economic interests of legal entities and natural persons that provide hotel and restaurant as well as tourism services or perform other activities directly related to tourism by managing the destination at the level for which they were established.

According to the Act on Tourist Boards and the Promotion of Croatian Tourism (NN, Nos 52/19 and 42/20), the system of tourist boards, established according to the model of destination management organisation, consists of the following: a local tourist board, a regional tourist board, the Zagreb Tourist Board for the area of the City of Zagreb and the Croatian National Tourist Board for the territory of the Republic of Croatia.

Published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Zagreb, Ilica 3, P. O. B. 80
Phone: (+385 1) 48 06 111
Press corner: press@dzs.hr

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

Prepared by:
Ivana Brozović and Kristina Baluban

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