The Croatian National Tourist Board traditionally marks the beginning of November by presenting the entire Croatian tourist offer at one of the world's most important tourism fairs - the World Travel Market (WTM), which takes place from November 5th to 7th in London. The special feature of this year's performance is the inaugural presentation of the new Croatian stand, which captured the attention of numerous business partners and other visitors with its design, size and innovative solutions.
The Croatian tourist delegation led by the Minister of Tourism and Sports Tonči Glavina and the Director of Croatian National Tourist Board Kristjan Staničić, as well as Croatian co-exhibitors, amounting to a total of 23 participants at the Croatian stand this year.
The new design of the stand presents Croatia as a destination of true beauty that has managed to preserve its authenticity, and its attractiveness is emphasized by large portals whose LED screens display Croatian beauty, inspiring locations, people, and experiences in order to introduce numerous visitors and business partners to Croatian "concept of beauty". There are also distinctive red and white squares that are strongly represented in the upper part of the stand, crowning the Croatian exhibition space and making it even more recognizable. Along with the new look of the stand, the newly designed uniforms of the Croatian staff at the fair were also presented for the first time in London.
"Croatia has a very good position on the market of Great Britain, which was confirmed by the partners we spoke with, as well as statistical data that tell us that this market is in a high sixth place among the foreign markets from which we have achieved the best tourism result. We specifically chose London to present the new design of the stand in order to show a large audience part of the turnaround in the promotion of Croatia as a tourist destination, which is defined by the guidelines of our new Strategic Marketing and Operational Plan for Croatian Tourism", said director Staničić. "We are aware that our results from the British market, especially towards our southern destinations, largely depend on the quality of air connectivity, so our focus is on further strengthening existing airlines and expanding cooperation with airlines with an emphasis on the pre- and post-season," Staničić concluded, noting that by participating in WTM, we want to further strengthen ties with different tour operators and media, which play a key role in promoting our country on the UK market, but also on a global scale.
During the first day of the WTM, meetings were held with representatives of partners and organizations such as Jet2.com & Jet2Holidays, the British Association of Travel Agencies (ABTA), Travel Weekly, etc., which also provided a platform for continued discussions with representatives of other companies such as Iberia, EasyJet, CNBC and others, which are on the schedule during tomorrow's fair. The topics of discussion are analyzing the results of cooperation so far, as well as considering the possibility of additional improvements aiming to achieve even better results for Croatian tourism.
""The presentation of our tourism offer at this leading international event is part of the activities we prepare in the tourist year 2025 and what we see, and what makes us especially happy is the fact that for the British, in terms of travel, Croatia continues to be listed as a value for money destination. That's why it's extremely important that we send the right message now and communicate that we are a destination committed to the ratio of price and quality, and that's why I especially appeal to the tourism sector to take care of this.
When we talk about the next year, the entire sector must also take into account the fact that most of our broadcast markets are in a challenging economic situation, which affects tourism trends, and thus the policy of price and quality will be in even greater focus, as per carried out research on next year's travel.
Also, the perception of Croatia as a diverse destination with a rich cultural, natural and gastronomic heritage is growing, as well as the increasing interest of the British in active vacations, which opens up additional opportunities to visit Croatia outside of the summer months, as this is is extremely important to us in the further development of year-round tourism.", said Minister Glavina.
Adding to that, during the first 10 months of this year, British tourists contributed with 820,000 arrivals and 4 million overnight stays in our country, which compared to the same period last year indicates a growth of about 9 percent in arrivals and 8 percent in overnight stays. At the same time, the British spent the most nights in the Dubrovnik-Neretva and Split-Dalmatia counties, and by destination in Dubrovnik, Split, Konavle, Župa dubrovačka, Zadar and Rovinj.
"ABTA representatives were interested in the strategy of Croatian tourism in the coming years, and what they learned from their Croatian interlocutors fully coincides with their expectations and research into the mood and preferences of travelers from Great Britain. New experiences, the extension of the tourism season, hidden gems, or lesser-known destinations, are strong motives for travelers who come to our country from Great Britain and recognize it as a welcoming destination with diverse offering and high-quality, premium product. Considering the significance and important role of ABTA, which has been bringing together the best tourism stakeholders in Great Britain for 75 years, the conversation was extremely resourceful and constructive", concluded Bisera Fabrio, director of the Representative office of Croatian National Tourist Board in London.
The Croatian exhibitors include the tourist boards of Split-Dalmatia, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Zadar, Šibenik-Knin County and Kvarner, TB Zagreb, TB Split, TB Crikvenica, Croatia Airlines, NP Plitvička jezera, etc. As previously, tasting and promotion of premium Croatian wines took place at the Croatian stand in cooperation with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and their Vina mosaica platform.
