site.btaCroatia Tourism Revenues Up due to Higher Prices, Last-Minute Bookings Prevail

Tourism revenues in Croatia rose in July, driven by higher prices, while overnight stays showed no year-on-year increase. More than 1.1 million tourists are currently in the country, Croatian national broadcaster HRT said on Monday.

June was weaker than a year earlier because of the timing of school holidays in Germany, Croatia’s largest source market. Early August has also produced positive results, HRT said.

Croatian tourism this year has been shaped by last-minute bookings, but results so far remain broadly in line with 2025, Boris Zgomba, President of the Association of Travel Agencies at the Croatian Chamber of Economy, told HTV’s central Dnevnik news programme.

“August and September are the most important months for Croatian tourism. Bookings are currently being made at the last minute, and I think we are doing surprisingly well,” Zgomba said. He added that the pattern did not surprise him, as he had long expected late bookings to determine the season.

On increasingly frequent complaints about high prices along the Adriatic coast, Žgomba said neither the government nor the tourism industry could dictate prices. “Prices are set by the market. If there is sufficient demand, they are clearly not too high,” he said.

On competition with Greece and Spain, Žgomba said all Mediterranean countries were at the height of the tourism season. “The real battle is in August and September, and only then will we be able to take stock and assess the season,” he said.

In Istria, overnight stays were slightly higher year on year. Rovinj, Croatia’s most visited city, recorded 2% more overnight stays in the year to date than in the same period of 2025.

“There are 38,000 registered tourists in the city. Germans are the largest group, followed by Austrians. We also have many Dutch visitors, particularly at campsites, while Italians are returning in large numbers,” Tourist Board of Rovinj-Rovigno representative Iva Damuggia told HRT.

Stoja Campsite Director Dolores Dragun said July was a few percent better than a year earlier, confirming a successful season and partly making up for June’s shortfall.

“Revenue rose 5% in July, with three percentage points coming from higher prices and two from increased overnight stays,” Pula hotelier Denis Zembo said.