According to the voters’ choice of the European Best Destinations web site, Zagreb was named the best destination for the Christmas holidays in Europe for the third year running. The Croatian capital defended the title competing against 20 cities, making it the only city crowned with the best Christmas destination recognition for three consecutive years. There were 200.596 votes from 131 countries, and Zagreb won by achieving stellar 38.380 votes. The Second-running town of Colmar received 23.625 votes in total, while Vienna earnt the third position with 16.354 votes.
Zagreb's flattering accomplishment sparkled both a varied programme and a rising trend of arrivals along with the overnight stays. First 9 days of the Zagreb Advent marked 37.685 arrivals and 28 % increase in comparison to the same period last year, while 68.480 overnight stays demonstrated 23 % growth. The local guests encompassed 20.158 overnight stays, illustrating 22 % rise, while there were 48.322 overnight stays registered from abroad coupled with a rising trend of 24 %.
European Best Destinations (EBD) is headquartered in Brussels. Its goal is to promote culture and tourism in Europe. In cooperation with tourist boards and the EDEN association, it promotes greater understanding of the richness, diversity and quality of European destinations at the European and global level. The web site has more than 4.2 million visitors and thousands of followers on various social media.
Gledano po pojedinim državama, Zagreb je bio destinacija broj jedan za Amerikance, Kanađane, Ruse, Grke i Australce, dok je Britancima, Nijemcima i Austrijancima bio na drugom mjestu, odmah iza vlastitih gradova na listi. Ovaj laskavi naslov Zagreba kao najbolje europske božićne destinacije, osim raznovrsnog programa, potvrđuju i visoke stope rasta u dolascima i noćenjima gostiju. Tako je u prvih 9 dana Adventa zabilježeno 37.685 dolazaka gostiju, što je 28 posto više u odnosu na isto razdoblje prošlogodišnjeg Adventa, a ostvareno je 68.480 noćenja, što također predstavlja rast od 23 posto. Od toga su domaći gosti ostvarili 20.158 noćenja (rast od 22 posto), dok je stranih noćenja registrirano 48.322 (rast od 24 posto). Osim gostiju iz Hrvatske, najviše noćenja ostvarili su turisti iz Italije, Austrije, Bosne i Hercegovine, Velike Britanije i SAD-a.