Croatia is a partner country at the most important business fair in the Mediterranean

U Naples a fair is held from March 14 to 16 BMT - Borsa Mediterranea del Turismo, and the special feature of this year's edition of the fair is status Croatia kao Fair partner countries and for the first time in the history of holding this most important international business event in the south of Italy. With this, Croatian regions, destinations, and tourist products will have special promotional visibility and separation from other countries that will be represented in Naples.

"Italians traditionally like to travel to Croatia, both during the summer months and more and more outside the peak of the season. This was significantly contributed to by our country's entry into Schengen, which made us even more accessible, closer and more attractive for shorter and more frequent weekend trips. This year we expect a continuation of positive trends with special emphasis on pre- and post-season periods, as well as on further sustainable growth and development of Croatian tourism. The segments of the offer just mentioned represent what we highlight during our fair performances and promotional activities aimed at the Italian market, from which more and more younger guests come to us. Also, a new trend is being noticed on the Italian market, which is the increased demand for first minute offers.", he said Kristjan Staničić, director of HTZ, adding that Volotea is introducing three new lines this year, from Bari to Dubrovnik and Split and from Naples to Split.

The Croatian tourist delegation led by the director is present at the fair I'll stop, state secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Sports Josip Pavić and director of the HTZ Representative Office in Italy Vivian Vukelic. They met with the representatives during the first day of the fair Associations of Italian tour operators (ASTOI), SNAV, a ferry operator that represents the only Italian partner that offers ferry lines to Croatia, Association of Italian travel agencies (FIAVET) and with representatives MSC Cruises, the leading cruise company in Europe and the third largest in the world. Namely, Croatia, namely Rijeka, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik are part of their numerous itineraries in the Mediterranean. The event was attended by Jasen Mesic, ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Italy.

"We held a very important meeting with the representatives of Croatia at an important place such as the business fair in Naples. Italians value Croatia very much as a tourist destination, many of our clients are looking for trips to your country, so on this occasion we discussed how to best realize this potential. refers to the segment of organized programs, i.e. to trips that are realized through tour operators, and I am sure that today's agreement regarding the further development of cooperation with Croatia will lead to even better results.", he said Pier Ezhaya, president of the Association of Italian Tour Operators (ASTOI).

The fair in Naples gathers more than 400 exhibitors and 140 buyers, 6.000 accredited travel agencies, 220 accredited journalists, and there are also numerous business meetings where information related to current tourism trends and expectations from 2024 is exchanged.

"I am very happy that this year Croatia is a partner country in Naples at the BMT fair, which is also the most important business fair that is traditionally held in the period before Easter, when the market competition in the Mediterranean begins to heat up. We present our tourist offer, news from the sector, transport and air connection between Croatia and Italy, we met with numerous partners, but also announced upcoming promotional activities in the south of Italy, such as a business workshop for tourist entities that we are organizing in Rome on April 18", she stated Viviana Vukelic, director of the HTZ Representative Office in Italy, adding that most market studies predict further growth in tourist traffic this year.

Uz Croatian National Tourist Board as the main exhibitor, as part of the Croatian stand, 14 co-exhibitors present their offer, among them tourist boards counties of Split-Dalmatia, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Zadar, Šibenik-Knin and Kvarner, cities of Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Rab, municipality of Lopar, and there are other Croatian tourism entities, that is, transport companies, hoteliers and agencies. Also, in cooperation with Croatian Chamber of Commerce as part of the Croatian stand, a presentation and tasting of top Croatian wines is provided.

The importance of the performance at the fair in Naples is additionally confirmed by the results our country achieves on the Italian market, from which last year over 981 thousand arrivals i 4,2 million overnight stays, which compared to 2022 represents a growth of +5% in arrivals and +1% in overnight stays. At the same time, Italian guests spent the most nights in Wife (over 1,7 million overnight stays) and on Kvarner (1 million overnight stays), and in terms of destinations in Rovinj, Medulin, Poreč, Novalja, Umag and Mali Lošinj.

Source and photo: Croatian National Tourist Board