Croatia is 34th on World Economic Forum Tourism Report

Written by Andrey Bibarsov: Croatia Correspondent

Croatia has been ranked 34th out of the hundred and 39 countries surveyed for the World Economic Forum Travel, and is more highly ranked than other Eastern European countries that have recently joined the European Union.  While its position hasn’t changed since last year it did receive high marks in the area of tourism infrastructure enabling it to take the fourth place in this sector.

The country is especially popular with German tourists with some experts estimating that there will be hundred thousand more German tourists in 2011 when compared to the previous year.  This could be partly due to the recent unrest in Tunisia and Egypt, but interest was growing even before these events.  Tourism grew by 4.2% last year.

Croatia is also a favourite with Russian tourists, and Croatia has just introduced a visa free travel wish him for Russian citizens which begins from April 1 and lasts until October 31.  It already has a visa free travel regime for the Ukraine and Kazakhstan which was first introduced in April 2009 to boost tourism numbers and reduce the effects of the global crisis.  Some 165,000 Russian tourists visited Croatia last year which was 35% more than the previous year.  The rate of growth for overnight stays in Croatia in 2010 was higher than the European average, and overall numbers grew by 4%.

This is welcome news as the GDP in Croatia fell by 1.4% last year, although this was slightly less than expected.  GDP is expected to grow by about 1.5% this year and recent unemployment figures show that numbers fell by 0.9% in January.