STORY: Croatia's tourism industry returns to pre-pandemic levels
DATELINE: Aug. 9, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:56
LOCATION: Zagreb
CATEGORY: ECONOMY
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of the center of Croatia's capital Zagreb and tourists
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ELARIA SAULINO, Italian tourist
3. various of tourists and an organized bike tour in the city
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): IAN BOHRER, French tourist
5. Zagreb funicular
6. various of tourists
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (Enlgish): HELENA WOHLFAHRT, German tourist
8. a crowd of tourists
 
STORYLINE:
 
According to Croatian Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac, Croatia's tourism industry has returned to pre-pandemic levels as the country had recorded about 12.5 million arrivals and 63 million overnight stays as of Sunday. 
 
Most visitors spend their holidays in tourist hotspots like Dubrovnik, Zadar, Split, and Rovinj. Meanwhile, Croatia's capital Zagreb is also attracting more and more tourists.
 
Statistics show that in the past seven months of this year, Zagreb recorded 25 percent more arrivals than in the same period last year.
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ELARIA SAULINO, Italian tourist
"It is very nice for shopping. It is also full of history. We were just curious, we were looking to do something for the weekend, and we are very happy to come here actually. We found a lot of restaurants, nice places for the night. And during the day you can see a lot of museums of arts, and also the Museum of Broken Relationships, which is very nice, very original."
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (English): IAN BOHRER, French tourist
"We are doing a tour in eastern Europe. We went to the south of Croatia, and then we are driving back up with our van. We planned to go to Ljubljana and then we stopped in Zagreb which is the capital, which seems not so touristic as the south, like in Dubrovnik and Split. Actually, we are quite surprised about the city. (There are) many things to see, a lot of terraces, actually the climate is perfect today. For us, it is just a surprise, and we wanted to get surprised by the city."
 
SOUNDBITE 3 (Enlgish): HELENA WOHLFAHRT, German tourist
"The first impression is very nice, so we love it."
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Zagreb.
(XHTV)