Croatia is to become a member of the European Union today, paving the way for an increase in tourism numbers.
The country’s president Ivo Josipović has marked the event as a “return to the European family” after more than a decade of trying to enter the union.
Now as the 28th EU member, tourism will be one of the country’s main areas that it hopes will benefit from the inclusion, although numbers have already been on the rise in recent years. Zagreb Airport had seen an 8.8% rise in passengers up to March while last year more than 332,800 Brits travelled to the country, up 24% on 2011.
Ex-tourism minister Velkjo Ostojić told Travel Daily at World Travel Market last year that joining the EU would “eliminate some procedures” and ease travel to and from Croatia, but it is thought the country will not officially join the Schengen until 2015.
In the meantime several airlines and tour operators have added capacity to the growing tourist destination, while travellers heading to Croatia will have more medical cover under the EHIC card.
UK businesses selling holidays to Croatia have also been quick to diminish rumours that prices in the country will soar after today, with a cut in VAT earlier this year previously reducing costs.
“Croatia has been steadily increasing in popularity over the past five years and this latest surge [bookings up 140% year-on-year] suggests the country is now widely recognised as a great destination for a summer beach holiday. Bookings to Croatia are expected to continue to increase rapidly with the country joining the EU this summer, which is no doubt welcome news to its tourism trade,” said On the Beach’s chief marketing officer Alistair Daly on the success of the country.
To mark its entry and encourage visitation a series of events have been held in London as part of the ‘Welcome Croatia’ festival and a stone kažun is being unveiled on Friday in the Peak District National Park.
In a letter on the festival’s website, Josipović said:
“Croatian citizens that are now impatiently awaiting 1 July, the historic event for which they have fought and prepared hard for more than two decades, usually refer to this event as the “return to the European family.
I can state with pleasure that this year we have had one of the most successful tourist season with a significant increase in the number of British tourists. I am positive that this [Welcome Croatia] festival will be an additional motivation for the British to explore this ‘small country for a great holiday’ and to accept Croatia as their future favourite tourist destination.”
The country is not set to adopt the euro.
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