The previous effort in Karlovac County comes at a "payment": guests stay longer than one night

Murva, Josipa, Nino, Kaya, Ivona.... And so indefinitely. Various names are lined up on beautifully decorated estates, villas, wooden houses... while driving on the roads of Karlovac County.

The story that comes from the place is also interesting Drežnik City within the Municipality of Rakovica.

A place that has been experiencing tourism in recent years, and not so long ago it was demolished, overgrown, burned. "People are hardworking here", one of the renters, Marijan Vuković, tells us. "They couldn't wait to come back after the war, took advantage of the proximity of the Plitivite Lakes and now we really have tourism". 

Four years ago, this family built a holiday home with their own funds and with the help of a loan Country Lodge Vuković. 

"We work very well all year round and now our guests are staying longer and longer. In the summer, we have the most Germans, Austrians, Belgians, guests from all over Europe, and in the winter, local guests predominate. We are very satisfied. Here is a real vacation, without stress", he says Marijan Vuković. 

Key information is also the fact that guests in Karlovac County are staying longer and longer, no longer just for one day to see the Plitvice Lakes. Quality content in the destination is certainly responsible for this, because as we know, content is key.

Karlovac County has positioned itself as a destination for active vacations, and in the past few years, various tourist events have successfully risen to a higher level and even become a reason to come - which is a great success. 

We must also mention excellent museums and interpretation centers such as Aquatika - freshwater aquarium Karlovac, Barćeve spilje, Ivan's fairy tale house visitor center, Nikola Tesla Experience Center, Speleon, there is also Dolina jelena, Rastoke... 

Marijan's words are also confirmed by the Tourist Board of the Plitvice Valley area. The small town of Drežnik Grad achieved 2023 overnight stays in 9919, which is an increase of 30 percent compared to 2022. 

"Our trump cards are the Deer Valley Ranch, the Old Town of Drežnik, cycling and hiking trails, the promenade above the Korana river canyon that starts from Drežnik Grad, the proximity of the Barac Caves, Speleon and the offer of active tourism. I would say that Drežnik Town has retained the charm of a village, where you can meet tourists at any time of the year, but still offers a stress-free vacation in nature.", describes the director of the Tourist Board of the Plitvice Valley area Mira Špoljarić. 

In recent years, tourism has flourished in the wider area of ​​Rakovica.

Namely, more than half of the realized tourist traffic in Karlovac County is accounted for by the Tourist Board of the Plitvice Valley and the Tourist Board of the town of Slunj. But on the wings of that success, there are a number of great tourist ideas and products throughout the county. 

Karlovac with its four rivers and tourist events such as Ozalj with Štrudlafest, Kupa and Slava Raška, Duga Resa with camps and Mrežnica, Ogulin with its fairytale Klek and Fairytale Festival and many others, became recognizable.

It is no coincidence that Karlovac County has been the best continental county for tourism for a number of years.

"Tourism really does not happen to us by chance. This is the result of systematic thinking and investment in various tourism products, but also the result of the great cooperation of the Karlovac County with tourist boards, private entrepreneurs in tourism and the competent ministry. I am glad that we are becoming recognizable as a destination of active tourism and that our tourist events are recording better and better results. I am also optimistic when it comes to a number of our big projects. For example, Touch of Civilization, i.e. the renovation project of a series of Old Towns in the county, will certainly give new momentum to the development and improvement of the tourist offer", He points out Martina Furdek Hajdin, prefect of Karlovac County. 

The pre-season brought excellent results this year as well, say the Regional Tourist Association of Karlovac County. 

"Last year in 2023, we had a record preseason. This year, the indicators of total tourist traffic are even better. Numerous events support this. We are one of the few continental destinations that has hosted the two largest sports and tourism events, the World Rally Championship WRC and the largest international bicycle race held in Croatia - CRO RACE, which increases the occupancy of accommodation capacity outside of the summer months when it is at its maximum.", points out the director of the Regional Tourist Board Željko Fanjak. 

/ / / An important step forward in protection: the Mrežnica River has become a protected area

At the same time, Karlovac County wants sustainable tourism, and recently it is one of the most beautiful European rivers, Retina, declared protected. This protection implies new rules for building near the river, but also new rules for dealing with tourism, especially active ones, such as rafting.

"And rivers and forests and all our natural and historical heritage - we just borrowed it all.  Tourism, certainly yes, it is a generator of economic recovery and development of our country. But we must make sure that we preserve all that we have for those who come after us", concludes Prefect Furdek Hajdin. 

Finally, when we talk about the area of ​​Rakovica and its surroundings, which has seen its tourist growth due to the proximity of the Plitvice Lakes National Park, it is a great success to keep guests staying longer - and this is not and cannot happen by chance. Only targeted, planned and strategic. 

Imagine that every host in his accommodation in Karlovac County devotes his time to his guests, gets to know them and recommends what to see, experience and taste in the destination, that is, to present the narrative of the destination to the guests according to their interest profile.

If they are on vacation with children, to recommend them to visit Aquatika, if they are active tourists to try over 1000 km of bicycle paths, or if they like wine - to return to the Vivodina Wine&Walk.

It is a process and it takes time, and as we can see from the data, in the Karlovac County, everything finally comes to "payment" and guests stay longer than one night. 

All thanks to the high-quality and diverse offer of the Karlovac destination - from accommodation, hosts, events, infrastructure, museums and interpretation centers, promotion and communication, stakeholder education and other tourist attractions that the Karlovac County offers. 

This means that guests spend more, see more, take photos and share more on social media - and in the end, that tourist consumption trickles down to the local economy and nicely fills the tourism mosaic of Karlovac County. 

Photo: TZ of Karlovac County