The holiday destination Croatia, which is also popular with German citizens, expects higher income from tourism this year than in the record year 2019, the last year before the global corona pandemic. According to forecasts by the Croatian National Bank, tourism revenues will amount to around 11.3 billion euros in 2022, as Minister of Tourism Nikolina Brnjac reported in Zagreb on Tuesday. In 2019, this revenue was 10.5 billion euros.
Since the beginning of the year, the Adriatic country has recorded about 17 million tourist arrivals and 99 million overnight stays, Brnjac added. Apart from the pandemic years, tourism revenue in Croatia accounts for a good 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
On January 1, 2023, the euro will replace the national currency, the kuna. Although Croatia has long met the necessary conditions, it is not yet part of the Schengen border-free area. Especially at the borders with the northern EU neighbor Slovenia, there are always long traffic jams during the holiday travel season. In Zagreb, there is hope that accession to the Schengen Agreement can take place before the start of the next tourist season.
