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The Croatian Tourist Board has opened the season of performances and presentations of Croatian tourist offers at the most important tourist fairs, and the first in the series is the Vakantiebeurs fair, which takes place in Utrecht from January 11 to 15.
It is the largest tourist fair in the territory of the Benelux countries, which is intended for business as well as general audiences. As part of the Croatian stand, 15 co-exhibitors, i.e. Croatian tourism entities, present their offer, and after meeting with some of the most important partners, Ivan Novak, director of the HTZ Representative Office for the Benelux countries, commented on market trends.
"The Dutch tourism sector is optimistic about this tourist year, which is confirmed by the data of most tour operators who entered the new year with a strong growth in bookings, i.e. increases of 10 to 20 percent in the first weeks of January, compared to the same period of the reference year 2019. Additionally, certain changes in the behavior of consumers, who are slowly returning to their old, i.e. pre-pandemic habits, which primarily refers to early booking, in contrast to the last minute demand that was very pronounced three years ago, are also happy., said Novak, adding that the Netherlands is one of the top five emission markets for Croatian camping.
Namely, this is a market from which a total of 543 thousand arrivals and almost 3,3 million overnight stays were made in Croatia last year, which represents an increase of 10% compared to the record year 2019, and since in the Netherlands almost every fourth household is camping , more than half of all overnight stays from this market were made in Croatian camps.
The good trends are also confirmed by the representatives of ANWB, the Dutch car club and the leading specialist for camping, who point out that part of the tourist offer as the most resistant due to its concept of rest and staying outdoors. Like other tour operators on the market, ANWB is also very optimistic for 2023, given that they are already recording sales increases of 20 percent compared to 2019, which is why they are actively urging their clients to book their trips as soon as possible.
Let us add that among the co-exhibitors at the Vakantiebeurs fair there are representatives of the tourist boards of Šibenik-Knin, Zadar and Karlovac counties, TZ Fažana and Bi Village, as well as representatives of the Camping Association of Croatia, NP Plitvička Jezera, Maistra, Valamara, Blue Lagoon, Cresanka, Amadria Park Camping , Valalte, Hadrie, Aminess Hotels & Campsites and representatives of Camping Cres&Lošinj.
