Year's first 8 months see 8% more arrivals, 6% more nights

In August and the first eight months of this year Croatia recorded eight per cent more tourist arrivals and six per cent more nights than in 2006, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

More than nine million tourists visited Croatia in the January-August 2007 period, 8% more than at the same time last year.

More than 7.63 million guests were foreigners, an increase of 8%, while 1.37 million domestic tourists recorded an increase of 11%.

Tourists accounted for 47.49 million nights, of which more than 42.25 million by foreigners, while domestic tourists accounted for more than 5.23 million nights, an increase of 8%.

Foreigners accounted for 5.5 and domestic tourists for 3.8 nights on average.

The Germans accounted for the most nights (20.6%), followed by the Slovenes (12.4%), the Italians (11.8%), the Czech (9%), the Austrians (8.3%), the Dutch (4.4%) and the Hungarians (4.2%), while tourists from other countries accounted for 29.3% nights.

More than 1.22 million Germans visited Croatia in this year's first eight months, accounting for more than 8.72 million nights, up one per cent from last year.

The Italians also recorded a 1% increase from 2006, with nearly 1.1 million arrivals, but a 1% decrease in nights (nearly 5 million).

The Slovenes accounted for 894,600 arrivals, an increase of 12%, and more than 5.22 million nights, an increase of 9%.

The Czech accounted for 571,600 arrivals, up 14%, and nearly 4 million nights, up 13%.

The Austrians generated more than 668,700 arrivals, up 7%, and more than 3.5 million nights, up 5%, while the Dutch generated 233,700 arrivals, up 10%, and 1.8 million nights, up 4%.

The Hungarians accounted for 330,000 arrivals, down 6% from last year, and 1.8 million nights, down 10%.

More arrivals were recorded from Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Finland, Spain, Greece, Canada, the US, Japan, and New Zealand.

Guests from Japan usually stayed the least nights, an average 1.6, while those from Russia and the Netherlands stayed the most, with an average 8.2 and 8 nights respectively.

In August alone, more than 2.8 million tourists stayed in Croatia, accounting for 17.9 million nights, up 8 and 6% from last year respectively.

(Hina)