The total number of tourists in Croatia is still increasing. As statistics from the past three years show, visitors from the Czech Republic significantly contribute to this fact. Last year 4.7% more Czech tourists came to Croatia than the year before and they also spent more days there.

Even though Czechs know Croatia very well and like to come back to their favourite places, there are a lot of opportunities for change. This year's GO introduces the lesser known Northern Dalmatian island Vir. This island with a 32 km long shore with golden sand and two dozen natural beaches is about a twenty minute drive from the city of Zadar and offers both unspoilt nature and modern tourist accommodation. The representatives of the island presented not only their current tourist possibilities but also other development plans such as building a hotel, a small port or a camp. That Vir has already made great progress was confirmed yesterday by the head of the travel agency 101 CK Zemek, who have had Vir in their offer for a long time. “When I visited Vir for the first time twenty years ago it was close to a desert island, very different from what it is today,” said Petr Zemek and wished the Croatian guests good luck with realizing their plans to develop the island.

For Bohemians and Moravians, Croatia is a very important tourist destination, partly because it is easily reachable by car or bus. “According to official Croatian statistics, 700 000 Czech tourists were accommodated in Croatia in 2011,” says Klaudio Stojnić, the president of Croatian National Tourist Board which is based in Prague. The Czech numbers are even more favourable and higher by 150 000 people. “This difference can be caused by the fact that Croatian statistics are based on the paid tourist taxes for every accommodated visitor. Czech statistics are probably based on the number of tourists who went to Croatia, and not every guest was registered for accommodation. It is known that many Czech people have their own holiday houses on the Croatian coast and when they go there, they register neither themselves, nor their families or friends.”

Croatian National Tourist Board promotes their country in three main ways: information, PR activities and promotion. It turns out that that the structure of Czech tourists who visit Croatia has changed significantly in the past years, too. Klaudio Stojnić adds: “More Czech tourists spend their holidays in hotels, expensive apartments and higher quality tourist resorts. Six, seven years ago, camps were far more visited. And what is interesting is that Czechs now enjoy their holidays far more and spend more money.” Croatian National Tourist Board also works on the Croatians' view of Czech tourists, who were very different twenty years ago. “I work on it myself. Every month I send a memorandum to Zagreb about tourist relations between the Czech Republic and Croatia and about the changes in tourist behaviour. This report comes from other markets where Croatia has its tourist representatives as well. This information then goes to every hotel and tourist resort in Croatia.”