Croatia forecasts strong UK demand bolstered by largest ever tourism developments

New flights, ferries, and premium hotels target ambitious growth in 2025

London, 30 January 2025 – Croatia reports a successful start to year, upping world-wide appeal among travellers across continental and coastal regions. According to Google, Booking.com and Wanderlust data, Croatia wins a highly coveted spot among top ten most googled travel destinations worldwide, Osijek-Baranja County gains an upper hand within the most hospitable regions on Booking.com, while Dubrovnik flies high on the Wanderlust's prestigious “Good To Go” list for 2025. The country's tangible results sustain peaks momentum, and with new hotels, festivals, carnivals, premium cuisine and sports events on the menu, Croatia is well-positioned to outperform last year's 9 % growth in arrivals from the UK .

New direct flights and ferries will also add to accessibility of serene and secluded islands alongside the buzz, the beaches and the bounteous pleasures throughout the country. Winter season airline capacity from the UK is up 15 %, while this year's departures from the UK airports reaffirm Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Pula, and Osijek a perfect base to explore crowd-free landscapes. Pula targets big-growth with new Jet2.com flights from Birmingham, London Stansted and Manchester starting from 1 May, extending into October, while a revival of the 30 years dormant ferry service in June, connecting Italian port city of Trieste with Poreč, Rovinj, and Mali Lošinj will give affordable new gateways to premium Istria and neighbouring Kvarner region.

On the back of new transport links, the northern Adriatic also expects to widen horizons with new hotel openings in iconic properties, headlined by the Heritage Hotel & Resort Monumenti in Pula and first Marriot's hotel Isolano on the island of Cres. Meanwhile, a brand new Easyjet twice-weekly route to Split from Liverpool launches from 9th June that aims to amass UK visitors to central Dalmatia by the end of 2025. A new type of luxury is pioneering travel to emerging Croatian regions this spring, also reflected in the brand-new Hyatt Regency Zadar opening and new Hilton hotel Preko on the island
of Ugljan in Zadar archipelago, both occupying a stunning panoramic position gazing out to Adriatic Sea.

Myriad experiences and events are also expected to earmark Croatia for new and returning visitors this year. Festival of lights is ready to illuminate Croatian capital of Zagreb from 19 – 23 March, alongside HaHaHouse, the first museum in the world dedicated entirely to making visitors laugh. Rijeka Carnival is a perfect potion to beat the winter blues from 17 January – 5 March, setting the tone to carnivals galore from easternmost Slavonia to Lastovo in Dubrovnik region. Croatia ushers into prime sports season on 29 March with Life on Mars Trail, unveiling moon-like landscapes of the island of Pag, followed by Highlander Medvednica (6- 8 June) and Highlander Velebit (9– 14 September) amid a series of other sporting delights. Hone your cooking skills and explore the best of Croatian cuisine with festivities celebrating the country's star ingredients ranging from the Weekend Food Festival in glitzy Rovinj (11 -13 April), Asparagus Festival in Lovran on 12th April, Black Sheep dedicated to treasured traditions on Krk island (16 – 18 May) Prosciutto Fair (17– 19 October) in the heart of Istria, and hundreds more all year-round.

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PR contact: Ivana Shiell at IShiell@aviareps.com

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