By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo
“The Korean market is one of the most important markets for Croatia tours as it was mentioned before Pandemic that more than half a million Koreans were visiting Croatia in 2019,” said Kristjan Stanicic, visiting general director of Croatian National Tourist Board on Oct. 4.
At a presentation on the Croatia travel industry held at Coryo Daeyungak Tower in Seoul, Kristjan Stanicic said, “Croatia is one of the top Mediterranean and European tourism destinations with over 20 or almost 21 million visitors per year with almost 18 million overnights and 90 percent of our tourists are foreigners.
“Croatia nowadays is very recognized all around the world not only in Europe but now in Korea, in the whole Asia, the United States of America and of course our strategy goes in the direction of all year round tourism.”
Noting that the Croatian National Tourist Board last year finished its strategy of sustainable tourism, he said, ”Croatia is one of the leaders in sustainability of tourism in Europe and I think in the next three to five years it will remain the leader of sustainability and high level quality of service in tourism industry and the Mediterranean.
“We also would like to emphasize that we invested a lot of financial resources in the past 10 years. We've been improving creation quality of not only accommodation but the whole package of tourism and travel industry which means new hotels, new luxury villas, and restaurants.”
Commenting that one of the best olive oils is located in Croatia particularly in the most developed tourism destination in the northern part of Croatia, the head of the Croatian National Tourist Board mentioned, “We also improved a lot of our wine producing and wineries which are really, really high level. I'd like also to emphasize that Croatia has a huge history. So we have several UNESCO heritages.”
Damir Kusen, ambassador of Croatia to Korea, also attended the presentation and delivered an opening speech.
Meanwhile, Nikica Doresić, representative of the Croatian National Tourist Board Representative Office Seoul, said, “Croatia has introduced three or four representative regions to Korea, but I think we need to actively promote other regions to Korea.”
He said, ”We encourage visitors to remember Croatia's 20 UNESCO world intangible cultural heritage sites and 10 tangible cultural heritage sites, and to enjoy the unique cuisine of each region and its 92 Michelin-starred restaurants.”
According to Croatian Tourist Board data, 19.3 million tourists visited Croatia this year (through September), up 2.7 percent from 2023, including 157,000 Koreans, up 37 percent from 2023. Zagreb, Dubrovnik, and Split were the most visited Croatian destinations by Koreans.
The Croatian Tourist Board expects more than 21 million tourists to visit Croatia this year, and the total national income generated by tourism is expected to exceed 15 billion euros.
T’Way Air, which contributed to the recoveray of Korean visitors to Croatia this year, will operate three times a week on the Incheon-Zagreb route next year, based on its 83% occupancy rate (according to Air Portal). “We are currently reviewing the aircraft to be used,” said Park Ki-bae, head of T'Way Air's European and Oceanic Route Team.
