As a tourist destination Croatia still attracts American travellers who are looking for luxurious and thoroughly planned trips. The results come from the analysis in the sector of family trips which are based on the current and forecasted travel reservations carried out by Virtuoso, one of the most influential American travel advisor networks in the world of specialised in luxury and experiential travel. The experts at Virtuoso listed Croatia amongst the world’s top 10 in the category of unconventional family destinations which offer authentic experiences. The fact that along with Croatia in the top 10 in the mentioned category there is only one European country, Iceland, shows it is a significant indicator.
“We are particularly pleased by the results of Virtuoso’s analysis because they show Croatia’s excellent position on the large American market. It is important that we are recognised in the US market as a tourist destination of a diverse offer which consists of quality, richness and originality. So far Croatia has been recognised in Europe as a destination suitable for family travel, and the analysis of Virtuoso, one of our key partners on the American market with whom we have excellent cooperation, confirms that we are indeed out of European frameworks”, said the director of the Croatian National Tourism Board Kristjan Staničić, adding that the last TOMAS summer survey showed that American tourists came at the top of tourist spending in Croatia which on a daily level was almost 160 euros.
A special note in Virtuoso’s report referred to the analysis of the young traveller sector – the so-called Generation Z, who make up more than a quarter of the American population with an average spending power of 43 billion dollars. These are generations that have a powerful influence on the decision of family travel and on generations that are looking for an active experience, unusual destinations and experiences which they can share on social networks. The analysis is also focused on the key travel motives, particularly in the sector of luxury family travel for which Virtuoso, together with its network of associates throughout the world is specialised. So the main motives for travelling in 2018 are highlighted as family travel, exclusive travel – villas, yachts as well as luxury sea and river cruising, active and adventure travel, wine-food and cultural tourism, resort holidays, educational travel and travel for specific occasions such as honeymoons or the celebration of various anniversaries.
The recently published Virtuoso Luxe 2018 Report, the annual research which releases key trends and insights in the luxury travel industry also confirms the mentioned positive trends. In the mentioned research Croatia was listed amongst the top 10 destinations in three categories, with an improvement on the table in relation to results of the research from 2017. Our country took 2nd place in the category of the most popular emerging – growing destination, whilst in the category of the most popular destination for the so-called Millennial travellers, it took 6th place, and 8th in the category of the most popular international destination.
Virtuoso represents a network of the best luxury tourist agencies that have more than 17,500 advisors from around the world. Virtuoso’s network includes more than 1,700 partners amongst whom are top hotels and resorts, tour operators, airlines, agencies and others, and network’s basic aim is to offer clients thoroughly planned and unforgettable trips.
In addition during 2017 476,000 arrivals (+35%) and 1.3 million overnight stays (+34%) were registered from the US market, and so far in 2018 there have been 118,000 arrivals (+25%) and 300,000 overnight stays (+16%).