MORE than 600,000 tourists are currently staying in Croatia. According to the Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli, some counties achieved 60 percent of the occupancy from the same period last year, and by the end of the year, the result could amount to 40 percent of last year's occupancy.

"There are about 600,000 tourists in Croatia, mostly foreigners, and about 90,000 local tourists. Croatia is still a safe destination even with everything that is happening," Cappelli stated after a meeting of the Croatian National Tourist Board's Tourist Council.

He compared the results to the Greek ones, stating that Greece has as little as seven percent of the turnover it had last year.

On the other hand, Croatia has had over 50 percent of last year's turnover in July, and more than 30 percent of last year's turnover in the period from the beginning of the year until now.

He pointed out that in some counties, such as Istria and the Primorje-Gorski County, more than 60 percent of the last year's arrivals was achieved. He also believes that tourism workers are well-prepared for the epidemiological conditions in which they are working.

He stated that 75 percent of the available nautical charters are currently in business, but in August, he expects the number to go up to 100 percent.

Cappelli is in favor of stricter epidemiological measures in order to reduce the number of infected people and to prove to tourists that Croatia is a safe destination.

He pointed out that the decline in the number of domestic tourists amounts to only 13 percent, as well as that most continental destinations have a turnover of more than 60 percent of that from last year, while family farms in the continent are achieving even better results than they did last year.

Cappelli: Service prices have been reduced

He stated that the prices of tourist services have been reduced in a number of destinations, on average by 10 to 30 percent.

"I claimed that the tourism industry would be the first in our economy to react positively, and that is exactly what's happening now," stated the Minister, adding that the majority of seasonal workers this year are Croats.

At the Tourist Council meeting, additional funds were approved for crisis communication needs. The funds will be used for continuous monitoring of the market situation in order to quickly and timely inform the target audience about every change in the travel segment, with an emphasis on Croatia as a safe and accessible tourist destination.

"Today, we have secured additional financial resources for crisis communication activities in foreign markets. Quality promotion and placement of targeted messages are extremely important in these times when many countries are fighting very hard for each guest. These financial resources, amounting to about € 132,780, will be used for intensified monitoring of the entire epidemiological situation, with an emphasis on communicating accurate information on the epidemiological situation in the country ", stated the director of the CNTB Head Office Kristjan Stanicic.

Stanicic also stated that from Friday to Sunday, there had been almost 300,000 arrivals and 1.8 million tourist overnight stays in Croatia.

The members of the Tourist Council also discussed the situation in the markets and the tourist season, and it was stated that from 1 to 19 July, about 1.4 million arrivals were achieved in Croatia, which amounts to 53 percent of last year's result, as well as 9.6 million overnight stays, which amounts to 56 percent of last year's result from the same period.

The largest tourist turnover came from Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria.

Stanicic also stated that additional funds will be used for PR activities in the domestic and foreign markets, as well as that additional funds were secured through an internal redistribution within the CNTB budget.