Croatian tourism at World Travel Market in London – partners for next year are announcing a growth in demand for Croatia

The Croatian Tourist Board is currently presenting the Croatian tourist offer at the World Travel Market (WTM), one of the world’s largest tourism fairs, which is being held this year in its hybrid edition, i.e. live from November 1 to 3 in London, while the virtual edition of the fair will be held November 8 and 9 on the fair’s online platform.

The fair was also attended by the director of the Croatian National Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić, who during the first day of the fair met with representatives of the most important partners such as EasyJet, TUI, SAGA, Jet2.com & Jet2Holidays. Meetings were also held with representatives of Globetrotter TV, National Geographic and Wanderlust.

“Extremely good results were achieved this year, but we also have great announcements for next year, we received representatives of Jet2.com, our most important partners in the British market, which, along with TUI, brings us the largest number of British tourists. Conclusions from the first day of the fair are very positive, partners for next year are announcing a growth in demand for Croatia and more airlines, but we all have an important task and great responsibility because the basic prerequisite for a successful tourist season will be a stable epidemiological situation,” said director Staničić.

Richard Owens, development manager at EasyJet, stressed that they are very pleased with the results achieved. “We have achieved very good results this year, so we have almost completely returned to the trends from 2019. When we talk about Croatia, next year we plan to increase capacity and introduce new flights, and for the first time we are considering the introduction of flights to Rijeka and Osijek airports,” said Owens.

Frank Broersen from TUI, the world’s leading tourist group, also expressed his satisfaction with the expressed demand for Croatia this year. “We are recording an increase in booking of 16 percent compared to 2019, and we expect the continuation of positive trends and further recovery of the tourist market in the next year as well. Final actions and planning phases are underway, negotiations with Croatian partners are underway and I believe in a joint agreement that will result in an even greater number of our capacities in Croatia,” concluded Broersen.

The Croatian tourist offer is presented at a large stand in which 16 co-exhibitors are presenting their offer, including the tourist boards of Zadar, Šibenik-Knin, Split-Dalmatia and Dubrovnik-Neretva, Zagreb and Dubrovnik and Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia Airlines, Maistra Hospitality Group, Valamar, Uniline DMC – Croatia, Perfecta Travel, Liburnia hotels & villas, Aminess hotels & campsites, BAN Tours and Adriatic DMC.

In 2021 more than 230,000 tourist arrivals and about 1.2 million overnight stays were made from the British market in Croatia, which is an increase of 83 percent in arrivals and 77 percent in overnight stays compared to the same period last year.