Croatia: Measures to relaunch the tourism in Covid-19 context

published on 28 April 2020 | reading time approx. 2 minutes

As around 20 per cent of Croatia’s GDP comes directly from tourism the need to find a solution for this year’s tourist season is imperative. Croatia's tourism revenues are expected to fall 75 per cent this year, in the light of last year record (about 10 billion Euro).

  

Considering the importance of tourism for the economy of many member states, the Croatian government has proposed joint steps aimed at opening borders to tourists in line with epidemiological recommendations. According to the authorities, the most important thing now is to maintain the health of people and tourists who are in Croatia, to make them feel safe and to provide them with all the information they need.
 
Many businesses rely on the summer season to finance them through the winter period, and without a tourist season it is clear that the crisis could last well into next year. Easter and May holidays may not be the fullest, but Croatia already has tourism all year long (in July and August about 60 per cent of annual traffic is generated).
 
With the opening of internal air transport, which was announced in the third phase of the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, on the 11th of May, there will no doubt be some domestic tourism throughout Croatia, which could be used as an early model for this year’s tourist season. This phase will be followed by tourism from close European countries that are in similar Covid-19 situation and have succeeded to reduce the spread of the virus. There has been no mention so far of other important travel markets for Croatia, such as the UK and the USA, presumably as both these countries are among the worst affected by the pandemic.
 
Croatia's Adriatic neighbours, Albania and Montenegro, are also expected to be hit hard by the drop in tourism revenues (Montenegro relies on tourism for two-fifths of total current account receipts, by far the largest in Europe).
 
A monitor from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said that in Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Georgia, the biggest threat is from the almost total shutdown of their tourism sectors, as hotels and restaurants are closed and flights grounded, with the four countries' tourism sectors accounting for a quarter or more of GDP.
 
We will keep you informed in the consecutive days with the measures.