Croatian Tourism Board satisfied with course of tourist season

The course of this year's tourist season, with two million arrivals and six million overnight stays, is better than planned and indicates another excellent tourist season, the Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development, Božidar Kalmeta, said at a convention of the Croatian Tourism Board (HTZ) on Wednesday.

The session marked the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the HTZ system in Croatia.

Commenting on the good results of the tourist season, Kalmeta said that this year Croatia could expect tourism revenue exceeding last year's 6.3 billion euros, an increase of 3-5%.

The HTZ convention was preceded by a session of the HTZ Tourism Council, which pointed to problems such as a drop in the tourist turnover in Dubrovnik County, an inadequate price policy in some destinations and for some types of accommodation, and the failure to privatize some hotel companies.

HTZ Council member Pave Župan Rusković said that this year's decline in the number of charter flights in Dubrovnik County by 200 would result in a drop in the tourist turnover that would be difficult to compensate for in the peak season.

Rusković said that the government should urgently do something to subsidize and encourage the arrival of tourists by plane to that area.

A member of the Council from Istria, Veljko Ostojić, pointed to the problem of a drop in the arrivals of German and British tourists in Istria.

As for prices, the Council pointed to the problem of excessive prices at camping sites and in the private accommodation sector, as well as to the failure to privatize hotel companies in some resorts. (Hina)