In 2022 Croatia could welcome more than last year's 775,000 Czech visitors and Czech travel agents and other partners are expanding their programs for Croatia, hoping the war in Ukraine will end soon and not have a significant effect on their business, it was said at an event in Prague on Tuesday.

The event, “Croatia Day in Prague,” was organized by the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) office in Prague, with the support of the Croatian Tourism and Sports Ministry, to promote Croatia’s tourism industry.

Attending it were some 50 Czech business partners and representatives of more than 30 media outlets who also inquired about the date of the opening of Peljesac Bridge, epidemiological rules in Croatia and the continental parts of the country with the largest Czech communities.

Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said Peljesac Bridge would be opened in June, that work was proceeding according to plan but that the exact date was still not known.

In 2021, Croatia saw 97% of overnight stays generated by Czech visitors in the record year 2019, and so far this year it has seen a 25% increase in the number of Czech arrivals compared to 2019. We are grateful to Czech guests and partners for that, the minister said, announcing more diverse, year-round tourism products such as luxury tourism, health tourism and sports tourism.

Brnjac said this year’s promotional campaign in the Czech and other markets would be held under the slogan “Croatia, Naturally Yours”, focusing on sustainable tourism.

The head of the HTZ office in Prague, which covers the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Dubravko Miholic, said that most visits by Czech tourists could be expected in July and August.

“There is optimism in the Czech market regarding Croatia, travel agents are busier than in the last two years marked by the pandemic, and we believe the results will be better than last year. Croatia’s main rivals are Greece, Italy, Spain as well as Slovakia, Austria and Germany. Turkey, as well Hungary, have intensive promotional campaigns for the Czech market, notably for hot mineral springs, which is what many Czechs are interested in,” he said.