TOURIST ARRIVALS AND NIGHTS IN COMMERCIAL ACCOMMODATION,
MARCH 2024

In March 2024, tourist arrivals increased by 26.5% and tourist nights by 34.5%, as compared to March 2023

In March 2024, there were 537 thousand tourist arrivals and 1.3 million tourist nights in commercial accommodation establishments, which was an increase of 26.5% in tourist arrivals and 34.5% in tourist nights compared to March 2023. Of the total of 1.3 million realised tourist nights, 26.2% of them were realised by domestic tourists and 73.8% by foreign tourists.

Domestic tourists realised 166 thousand arrivals and 346 thousand nights in March 2024, which was 9.5% more arrivals and 15.3% more tourist nights than in March 2023.

Foreign tourists realised 371 thousand arrivals and 975 thousand nights in March 2024, which was 35.8% more arrivals and 43.0% more nights compared to March 2023.

Notice

Detailed monthly data are available on the website of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, under "PC-Axis databases", where it is possible to browse and print data in various forms. Databases are updated at the monthly basis.

In March 2024, the most tourist nights were realised by tourists from Germany

Tourists from Germany realised the most foreign tourist nights in March 2024, as much as 190 thousand, which accounted for 19.5% of the total foreign nights. In March 2024, tourists from Germany realised two times more nights than in March 2023. They spent the most nights in the County of Istria (46.5%) and in the County of Primorje-Gorski kotar (18.1%).

These were followed by the nights realised by tourists from Austria (15.8%), Slovenia (12.8%), Italy (6.6%) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (4.1%). All tourists from the stated countries realised more tourist nights in March 2024 than in March 2023.

In March 2024, the majority of tourist nights were once again spent in the County of Istria

The highest number of tourist nights in March 2024 was realised in the County of Istria, as much as 409 thousand nights, which was 30.9% of the total number of tourist nights realised in Croatia. Compared to March 2023, there were 77.0% more tourist nights in the County of Istria. Of the total number of nights realised in the County of Istria, domestic tourists realised 63 thousand nights and foreign tourists 346 thousand nights. The most foreign tourist nights in the County of Istria were realised by tourists from Germany (25.6%), Austria (22.9%), Slovenia (20.7%), Italy (9.4%) and the Czech Republic (3.8%).

The County of Istria was followed by the County of Primorje-Gorski kotar with 236 thousand realised tourist nights and the City of Zagreb with 167 thousand realised tourist nights.

Tourists spent the largest number of nights in the group Hotels and similar accommodation

The group Hotels and similar accommodation recorded the largest number of tourist nights in March 2024, as much as 831 thousand nights, which was 62.9% of the total realised nights. Compared to March 2023, there were 29.2% more tourist nights in the group Hotels and similar accommodation. By the size of accommodation establishments, with regard to the number of rooms, the most tourist nights in the group Hotels and similar accommodation were realised in large accommodation establishments (establishments from the groups Hotels and similar accommodation with 100 or more rooms), namely 621 thousand nights, which was 74.7% of the total number of tourist nights realised in the group Hotels and similar accommodation.

These were followed by tourist nights realised in the group Holiday and other short-stay accommodation, 380 thousand nights, which accounted for 28.8% of the total realised tourist nights. An increase in the number of tourist nights of 27.5% was recorded in this group of accommodation, as compared to March 2023.

The largest number of rooms and permanent beds were available in the group Hotels and similar accommodation

In March 2024, there were 112 thousand rooms, apartments and camping sites available to tourists, with a total of 273 thousand permanent beds.

In the group Hotels and similar accommodation, tourists had 49 thousand rooms, apartments and camping sites at their disposal (which was 43.3% of the total number of available rooms, apartments and camping sites), with 98 thousand permanent beds (which was 35.8% of the total number of available permanent beds). The average occupancy rate of rooms in the group Hotels and similar accommodation in March 2024 was 36.6% and of permanent beds it was 32.9%.

Tourists aged 35 to 44 realised the most nights

In March 2024, tourists aged 35 to 44 realised the most nights, as much as 240 thousand, (which accounted for 18.2% of the total realised nights). They were followed by tourists aged 45 to 54, who realised 230 thousand nights (which accounted for 17.4% of the total realised nights).

In the first quarter of 2024, tourists realised 16.7% more arrivals and 17.2% more nights compared to the same quarter of 2023

In the first quarter of 2024, there were 1.1 million tourist arrivals and 2.6 million tourist nights realised in commercial accommodation establishments, which was 16.7% more arrivals and 17.2% more nights compared to the same period of 2023.

Domestic tourists realised 422 thousand arrivals and 885 thousand nights in the first quarter of 2024, which was an increase of 6.9% in tourist arrivals and of 8.6% in tourist nights.

In the same period, foreign tourists realised 658 thousand arrivals and 1.7 million nights, which was 24.0% more arrivals and 22.1% more nights compared to the same period of 2023.

Tourists from Germany realised the most foreign nights (267 thousand nights, which accounted for 15.4% of the total realised foreign tourist nights). They were followed by tourists from Slovenia (15.3%), Austria (13.8%), Italy (6.9%) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (5.0%). All aforementioned countries realised an increase in tourist nights in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023.

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

The purpose of the statistical survey

The purpose of the statistical survey Tourist Arrivals and Nights 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 (EU) 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 natural persons that provide overnight accommodation services, as well as natural persons who provide hospitality services in households and on private family farms.

The Hospitality and Catering Industry Act (NN, Nos 85/15, 121/16, 99/18, 25/19, 98/19, 32/20, 42/20 and 126/21) defines the manner and conditions under which legal entities and natural persons can provide overnight accommodation in an accommodation establishment.

Sources and methods of data collection

The data source for the statistical survey on tourism activity (the number of tourist arrivals and nights) and accommodation establishments is the eVisitor system. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics takes over the data from the administrative source eVisitor system from the Croatian National Tourist Board on a monthly basis and further processes them statistically. Monthly data are downloaded on the seventh day of the month for the previous month.

All legal entities and natural persons that provide overnight accommodation services in an accommodation establishment, as well as natural persons who provide hospitality services in households and on private family farms, according to the Ordinance on the eVisitor system (NN, No. 43/20), check in and check out tourists via the eVisitor system, as the central electronic system for checking in and checking out tourists in the Republic of Croatia.

Coverage and comparability

This statistical survey covers accommodation establishments that are categorised in the groups Hotels, Camping sites and Other accommodation establishments pursuant to the Hospitality and Catering Industry Act (NN, Nos 85/15, 121/16, 99/18, 25/19, 98/19, 32/20, 42/20 and 126/21). The Minister of Tourism prescribes the types of accommodation establishments within these groups in an ordinance.

According to the Ordinance on the Classification, Categorisation and Special Standards of Accommodation Establishments in the group Hotels (NN, Nos 56/16 and 120/19), the types of accommodation establishments are the following: hotels, heritage hotels, all-suite hotels, integral hotels, diffuse hotels, special-standard hotels, spa-type accommodation, tourist resorts, tourist apartments, boarding houses and guest houses.

According to the Ordinance on the Classification and Categorisation of Accommodation Establishments in the group Camping sites (NN, Nos 75/08, 54/16, 68/19 and 120/19), the types of accommodation establishments are the following: camping sites, glamping, small camps and quickstop camping.

According to the Ordinance on the Classification and Categorisation of Accommodation Establishments in the group Other accommodation establishments (NN, Nos 54/16 and 69/17), the types of accommodation establishments are the following: rooms, apartments, studio-type suites, holiday houses, overnight accommodations, vacation establishments for children, hostels, mountain lodges, hunting lodges, pupils’ homes or students’ homes or akademis and Robinson-type accommodation establishments.

According to the Ordinance on the Classification and Categorisation of Establishments Providing Hospitality and Catering Services in Households (NN, Nos 9/16, 54/16, 61/16, 69/17 and 120/19), accommodation establishments in households are the following: rooms, suites, studio-type suites, holiday houses, camping sites, quickstop camping and Robinson-type accommodation (quickstop camping – Robinson-type accommodation).

According to the Ordinance on the Classification and Categorisation of Establishments Providing Hospitality and Catering Services on Private Family Farms (NN, Nos 54/16, 69/17 and 120/19), these are the following: rooms, suites, rural holiday houses, camping sites, quickstop camping and Robinson-type accommodation (quickstop camping – Robinson-type accommodation).

Pursuant to Article 29 of the Hospitality and Catering Industry Act (NN, Nos 85/15, 121/16, 99/18, 25/19, 98/19, 32/20, 42/20 and 126/21), 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.

This statistical survey also covers the following establishments providing accommodation services: spas, inns offering accommodation services and uncategorised establishments.

Pursuant to the Regulation (EU) No. 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 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 for the 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 the Eurostat’s website http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat and are comparable to EU Member States data.

Pursuant to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Croatia on the Introduction of Temporary Protection in the Republic of Croatia for Displaced Persons from Ukraine of 7 March 2022, the citizens of Ukraine are granted temporary protection in accordance with the Act on International and Temporary Protection (NN, Nos 70/15, 127/17 and 33/23). Persons from Ukraine who have not requested temporary protection in the Republic of Croatia use the service of accommodation in a short-stay accommodation establishment and pay for the accommodation service. Therefore, they are registered in the eVisitor system and are considered tourists.

The data do not include non-commercial tourist traffic (the stay of owners and their relatives and friends in apartments and holiday 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 (EC) No. 223/2009 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 each individual legal entity and natural person offering accommodation services as part of the hospitality and catering 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 any person who, outside his/her place of usual residence, spends at least one night in a hotel or some other tourist accommodation establishment for reasons of rest, recreation, health, study, sport, religion, family, business, public missions or meetings. Excluded are persons residing at a place for longer than 12 consecutive months, persons whose main reason for visiting is an activity that is financed from the place of visit, persons who 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, frontier workers, diplomats, consular representatives and military force members on their regular duties, displaced persons, nomads and persons in transit.

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

Foreign tourist is any 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 tourist accommodation establishment.

Tourist arrival is the number of persons (tourists) who were registered and stayed overnight 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 registers 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 settles with the intention of a permanent stay.

Age group of tourists is presented according to the years of age at the time of 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 (EU) No. 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism 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 (net) in the reference period is obtained by dividing the total number of nights by the number of beds on offer and the number of days when the beds are actually available for use during the reference period. The data is expressed as a percentage.

Occupancy rate of bedrooms (net) in the reference period is obtained by dividing the total number of bedrooms used during the reference period by the number of bedrooms available for use during the reference period. The data is expressed as a percentage.

According to Regulation (EU) No. 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 concerning European statistics on tourism and repealing Council Directive 95/57/EC, the criterion for determining the size of a tourist accommodation establishment from the group Hotels and similar accommodation is the number of rooms and apartments (accommodation units). Tourist accommodation establishments from the group 55.1 Hotels and similar accommodation are classified according to the number of rooms and apartments into:

– small establishments: less than 25 rooms

– medium-sized establishments: between 25 and 99 rooms

– large establishments: 100 or more rooms, sub-divided into two groups: between 100 and 249 rooms, and 250 or more rooms.

Division 55 of the NKD 2007 includes the provision of short-stay accommodation services 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, glamping, small camps, quickstop camping, quickstop camping in households ‒ Robinson-type accommodation, quickstop camping on private family farms ‒ Robinson-type accommodation, 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, 46/10, 145/10, 37/13, 44/13, 45/13 and 110/15).

 

Abbreviations
EU	European Union
Eurostat	Statistical Office of the European Union
NKD 2007	National Classification of Activities, 2007 version
NN	Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia

 

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