Travel to Croatia in 2023: What’s New?
The face of tourism in Croatia is set to drastically change in 2023 with its integration into the Euro and Schengen zones and the introduction of ETIAS Croatia.
Here is a look at the exceptional changes coming to Croatia in 2023:
Schengen and Euro Introduction
Croatia joined the EU in 2013 and 10 years later it has become the 20th country to officially adopt the Euro.
On 1 January 2023, Croatia became part of the Euro region hoping to eliminate currency risk and also benefit from lower borrowing rates and transaction fees.
Another huge milestone for Croatian tourism was its introduction into the Schengen Zone on 1 January 2023. Croatia enjoyed unanimous support from Member States, unlike Bulgaria and Romania.
This means, tourism borders between Croatia and other Schengen states, including its direct neighbors Hungary and Slovenia, have been removed.
Exploratory Glory YouTube Channel
Travel from Croatia’s neighbors Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina will also have to adhere to the ETIAS program.
Those coming from Kosovo still need to be approved for a visa before entering Croatia, but the EU is working on ways to grant Kosovo visa liberalization by the start of 2024, which will entitle Kosovans to visa-free entry with only an ETIAS waiver.
Vít Rakušan, the Czech Minister of Interior, expressed his excitement about the new prospects for Croatia.
“I am very pleased that during the Czech Presidency, Croatia was able to take two important steps in its European integration by joining both the euro and the Schengen areas. I am confident that these successes will pave the way for other member states who fulfill the conditions to take the next step in their European journeys, and my colleagues and I will continue to work hard to ensure that we can welcome Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen family in the near future.”
The Croatian Tourist Board is carrying out an extensive social media campaign in the country’s largest source markets to reinforce the message that travels to Croatia is now more accessible than ever.
Countries like Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary, and France will see messages like “Enjoy with passion, travel without limits” until the end of March.
Growing Tourism Figures
Croatia has recorded remarkable rebound numbers as the 2021 summer season kicked off, a trend that continued into 2022 and 2023.
“We entered the year 2023 as one of the most successful tourist destinations in Europe, and in January we recorded the best results of tourist traffic so far. The FITUR fair in Madrid is an opportunity for Croatia to present itself and stand out even more in distant markets, especially South America, but also in our already traditional European markets,” Croatia’s Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac explained.
In 2022, Croatia welcomed almost 20 million visitors, a 37% increase from 2021, closing the gap to the previous record-setting year of 2019 when 21 million tourists entered the country.
“Once again, I congratulate all tourism workers and all those who contributed to this historic tourism year. We achieved results that are at the record level of 2019 so far when it comes to tourist traffic, while in the first nine months, we already exceeded our revenues by more than one billion euros” said Brnjac.
This is also a great announcement for the year 2023, especially in the context of Croatia’s entry into the Schengen area and the eurozone. Our focus in 2023 remains on quality, sustainability, and innovation so that the successes of tourism are long-term and additionally contribute to the overall economic and social development of Croatia,” she added.
The Croatian Bureau of Statistics released its tourism figures from December 2022 and Croatia’s trajectory looks promising.
“In the last month of 2022, there were 329 thousand tourist arrivals and 740 thousand tourist nights in commercial accommodation establishments, which was an increase of 39.6% in tourist arrivals and of 33.6% in tourist nights compared to December 2021. As compared to December 2019, it was a decrease of 11.5% in tourist arrivals and of 4.7% in tourist nights,” they stated.
More Europe Travel Destinations
