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by Sail Croatia

Last updated 24 March 2023

Croatia Tourism Statistics 2023 - How Many Visitors in Croatia?

From Dubrovnik’s infamous Old Town Wall, featured on the hit TV series Game of Thrones, to the grand Diocletian's Palace, rich with history and the breathtaking wonder that is Plitvice Lakes National Park, there are many reasons to explore the beauty of Croatia. But just how many visitors does Croatia have each year? Is tourism on the rise? And how many of us have plans to visit this beautiful country?

Here, we reveal everything you need to know about Croatia tourism in 2023… and more!

To find out just how many people are interested in visiting Croatia, we surveyed just over 2,000 UK adults using Censuswide, asking whether they have visited or are interested in visiting Croatia, and whether they enjoyed their trip if they have. To discover whether or not interest in Croatian tourism is on the rise, we used the tool Keyword Finder to analyse 220 different Google searches conducted in the last 4 years in both the UK and US. We then delved deeper into current Croatia tourism statistics in order to find out just how many visitors the country has per year and how much this contributes to the economy.

Croatia Tourism Statistics: A Flying Visit

Looking for a summary? Here’s the gist:

Nearly half of UK adults who have not been to Croatia would like to go in future (46%).
A massive 80% of UK adults who have visited Croatia enjoyed their holiday!
Young adults between 16 and 24 are more likely than any other age group to have visited Croatia in the past (19%).
Adults in Northern Ireland are the most likely to have visited Croatia (23%), to have enjoyed a visit to Croatia (18%), and to want to visit Croatia (47%).
Dubrovnik is the most popular destination in Croatia, accumulating an average of 22,971 Google searches per month in the UK in 2022 for phrases related to planning a holiday there.
2022 saw 15.3 million visitors holiday in Croatia - a 44% increase over 2021
Croatia is most popular among Germans, who made up a massive 3.2 million of its visitors in 2022.

UK Tourism and Visitor Statistics in Croatia

In August 2022, we asked 2,008 UK adults:

How do you feel about visiting Croatia for a holiday?

I've been to Croatia and enjoyed it
I've been to Croatia but didn't enjoy it
I've never been to Croatia but would like to at some point in the future
I've never been to Croatia and feel neutral about visiting
I've never been to Croatia and do not want to

How Many People in the UK Want to Visit Croatia?

Our survey found that, out of UK respondents who have never been to Croatia:

Nearly half would like to visit Croatia at some point in their lives (46%).
1 in 4 UK adults who have never visited Croatia before do not plan to go (24%).
And a third don’t feel strongly about whether or not to visit Croatia (31%).

Do UK Adults Enjoy Holidaying in Croatia?

Our survey found that, out of respondents that have visited Croatia:

4 out of every 5 visitors to Croatia enjoy their trip (80%).
And only 1 in 5 do not (20%).

Croatia Tourism Demographic Statistics

As you can see from the pie charts, Croatia is a well sought-after and much enjoyed holiday destination amongst members of the UK public. But which age groups and parts of the UK are most keen to visit? To find out, we took a look at demographic data from our survey, which revealed:

Nearly 1 in 5 young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 have visited Croatia in the past (19%).
Despite this, young adults in the same age group are the most likely not to care about visiting Croatia (28%).
Nearly half of UK Adults between the ages of 25 and 34 have not visited Croatia before but want to go in future (46%).
And 1 in 4 adults over 55 (26%) say that they do not want to visit Croatia, making them the least likely age group to want to go.

So what about location? We found that:

Nearly 1 in 4 adults in Northern Ireland have visited Croatia (23%).
People in Northern Ireland are also the most likely to want to visit Croatia in future (47%).
And they are more likely than anyone else in the country to have enjoyed their trip to Croatia (18%), making the Northern Irish Croatia’s biggest fans in the UK.
In contrast, nearly 1 in 4 adults in Wales explicitly do not want to visit Croatia (23%), making the Welsh the least likely people in the UK to consider a holiday there.

Most Popular Tourist Hotspots in Croatia

With jaw-dropping coastlines, treasured architecture and some of the world’s most idyllic national parks, the characterful country of Croatia has so much to offer its visitors. But which areas, towns and cities are most popular amongst tourists visiting each year? Using the tool Keyword Finder, we analysed Google search volumes for 220 different variations of phrases related to planning a holiday in Croatia across the UK and the US. We then compiled search volumes for connected phrases such as ‘Split tourist attractions’ and ‘best places to visit in Split’ to discover which of the country’s 10 biggest tourism hotspots* are most popular amongst holidaymakers in the UK and US.

Our analysis found that:

Rank	City	Average Monthly Searches in the UK in 2022	City	Average Monthly Searches in the USA in 2022
1	Dubrovnik	22,971	Dubrovnik	6,731
2	Split	14,769	Split	2,657
3	Hvar	5,402	Zagreb	2,444
4	Zadar	4,489	Hvar	1,912
5	Zagreb	3,954	Zadar	637
6	Pula	2,473	Rovinj	191
7	Rovinj	1,573	Trogir	191
8	Porec	764	Pula	169
9	Trogir	658	Bol	92
10	Bol	239	Porec	32

Dubrovnik is the most popular city in Croatia for both Brits and Americans to want to visit.
It’s followed closely by the centuries-old city of Split, which gains an average of 14,769 Google searches related to tourism per month in the UK.
The UK’s third most popular Croatian destination is Hvar, while the US prefers the city of Zagreb.
Bol and Porec are slightly less popular holiday destinations, with the UK only searching for holidays in Bol 239 times a month, and the US searching for Porec destinations a mere 32 times.

*The top 10 cities we analysed as part of this keyword analysis were sourced from the following sites: https://wander-lush.org/most-beautiful-places-in-croatia/, https://www.placesofjuma.com/porec-croatia/ and https://www.bolcroatia.com/

COVID’s Impact on Croatian Tourism

On the 1st of May in 2022, Croatia dropped its Covid lockdown restrictions and allowed tourists freely into the country again. Tourism all over the world was hit hard by the pandemic, and the thriving industry in Croatia was no exception - so just how badly did Covid-19 affect Croatian tourism and interest in visiting Croatia? To find out, we analysed Google search volumes in the UK and the US for phrases such as ‘Flights to Croatia’ and ‘Croatia Holidays’ every month from January 2018 to February 2023.

UK interest in Croatian holidays dropped dramatically in 2020, falling from 90,500 searches in January to 49,500 in February.
Interest continued to decline rapidly, hitting an all-time low of 9,900 searches in April.
The number of searches for ‘Croatia holidays’ in the UK remained low throughout the pandemic before rising back up to 90,500 in July of 2021, a year before restrictions were fully lifted.
Interest then dropped again to a low of 12,100 in November, much lower than the winter lows of 2018 (27,100) and 2019 (22,200). However, in November 2022, interest returned to pre-pandemic levels (22,200) for the same month.

So what about the US? Our data found that:

Searches for ‘Flights to Croatia’ reached a peak of 12,100 in July 2018, making it the hottest month for Croatian flights in the US in the last 4 years.
Interest in Croatian flights has recently been growing in the US again, rising to 9,900 searches in July 2022.
October 2022 to January 2023 saw the most searches for “Flights to Croatia” in each of those months since 2018.
American interest in Croatia dropped in the spring and autumn of 2020 and 2021, but rose in the summer of both years despite the pandemic..
Searches for ‘Hotels Croatia’ in the US rose up to a peak of 2,400 in June 2021, after remaining low throughout 2020.

Croatia Visitor Numbers: How Many People Travel to Croatia Each Year?

Croatia’s historic cities and stunning landscapes attract millions of tourists from all over the world each year, even during the pandemic. So just how many people travel to see Croatia every year? And who enjoys visiting Croatia the most? To find out more about tourism numbers in Croatia, we analysed available third party data to see how many people have been visiting Croatia over the past few years, and where they came from.

Over 15.3 million tourists visited Croatia in 2022!
This is consistent with tourism rising again post-pandemic, as the overall number of visitors logged in 2021 was 10.6 million compared with nearly 21 million in 2019.
In contrast, only 7 million visitors arrived in Croatia in 2020, and in 2021 they logged 10.6 million visitors.
Croatia was most commonly visited by Germans in 2022, with 3.2 million tourists recorded as visiting from Germany..
Croatia was also very popular with Austrians, Slovenians and Poles in 2022, recording 1.45, 1.42 and 1 million visitors respectively.

Croatian Tourism and the Economy

Croatia is an incredibly popular tourist destination across the world, and a significant portion of the Croatian economy is supported by tourism. So just how big of an impact does tourism have on the Croatian economy? And did the tourist slump of Covid-19 have a negative effect on the country? We studied third party data to find out more about the effects of tourism on the Croatian economy.

Revenue from tourism made up almost a quarter of Croatia’s GDP in 2019.
This figure dropped to a mere 8.56% during the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and has steadily recovered during 2021 (11.95%) and 2022 (15.39%).
In 2020, tourism brought in only $5.2 billion, which was less than half of the 2019 levels.
In 2019, before the effects of the pandemic, Croatia recorded $12 billion in revenues as a result of tourism. 2021 saw the beginning of the recovery of tourism, with $10.9 billion coming in from tourism

Inspired to Visit Croatia?

Hopefully this rundown has helped to give you an idea of tourism and tourism statistics in Croatia - and maybe even inspired you to visit Croatia yourself! If you’re looking for inspiration for your next holiday destination, or if you just want more information about Croatia and other popular holiday destinations, check out our travel inspiration and cruises pages.