In Croatia, 12% more overnight stays by Americans were achieved than in the record 2019.

Croatian tourist agency (HTZ) and Slovenian tourist organization (STO) in this year at the US market they are running a joint campaign "Naturally Yours - taste, feel, Love" with the aim of positioning Croatia and Slovenia even more strongly as attractive year-round destinations. It is about a campaign for which she secured the funds European Comission, and among the planned activities is i specialized workshop for Croatian, Slovenian and American partners from the domain of luxury tourism held in New York, which brought together almost 40 Croatian and Slovenian tourism entities and more than 40 representatives of American partners, i.e. tour operators and agencies with special emphasis on the luxury segment.   

"The USA is a distant market from which we generate the largest tourist traffic, but also a market where we want to build Croatia's future position in the niche between Standard and Premium. This is precisely why we focus our communication activities on highlighting Croatia's tourist offer, which has a high value, that is, we address tourists from premium demand groups. We believe in the excellent promotional effects of the campaign, but also of the workshop itself, because we have a high-quality cooperation with our colleagues from the Slovenian Tourist Board, which is confirmed by the successful joint cooperation through which we have promoted our two countries in distant markets such as the USA, China and Australia. We will use this activity for additional promotion of Croatia, but also as a great opportunity to further connect Croatian, Slovenian and American partners.", he said Kristjan Staničić, director of the Croatian Tourist Board, adding that Americans' favorite Croatian destinations are Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb, Hvar and Rovinj.

As part of the workshop, special emphasis was placed on tourist products from luxury i premium segments, such as nature and natural heritage, active tourism, eno-gastronomy, cultural tourism te lifestyle, while the campaign itself, we remind you, covers the common subpage on the official website of the European Travel Commission, digital advertising activities in renowned American media such as Conde Nast Traveler and Wanderlust and a separate YouTube campaign for which a joint promotional video was created.

"Tourists from distant countries often want to get to know and explore more than one country during their travels, which is why it is important to join forces with neighboring countries, especially when promoting destinations in distant markets. After successful performances with HTZ in Asia and Australia, we dared for joint promotion in the USA, and I thank my Croatian colleagues for effective cooperation. We are all looking forward to even more frequent visits of American tourists to our destinations.", she said Maja Pak, director of the Slovenian Tourist Organization.

Uz Croatian National Tourist Board and hers Representation in New York, from Croatian subjects attended the workshop tourist boards of Istria, Split-Dalmatia i Lika-Senj County te of the cities of Split i destination, and other tourism entities from the hotel industry and agencies were also present. The ambassadors of the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia in the USA greeted the gathered.

Let's add how it is according to system data eVisitor from the American market, 685.000 arrivals and about 2 million overnight stays have been achieved in Croatia so far this year. The above compared to last year presents 33% growth in arrivals i 23% in overnight stays, while compared to 2019. these data indicate a 9% increase in arrivals i 12% in overnight stays.

On the other hand, Americans achieved 2023 arrivals and 101.000 overnight stays in Slovenia by August 228.000, which represents a growth of 32% in arrivals and 30% in overnight stays compared to the same period last year. By the end of the year, it is expected to achieve even better results than those of 2019, when almost 149.000 arrivals and more than 323.000 overnight stays by American tourists were recorded.

Let's add that a special event will be held today for American partners, media, tour operators and agents eno-gastronomic presentation of Zadar which, with the support of HTZ, is organized by the TZ of the city of Zadar.

Photo: Marijana Marinović, source: HTZ