Zagreb, Croatia - October 08, 2024

Croatia, a scenic European country located along the Adriatic Sea, has emerged as a hot tourism destination among Chinese tourists, with an increasing number of Chinese travelers flocking to visit the country since the summer.

Chinese holidaymakers are showing a growing appetite for long-haul tourism. During the just-concluded seven-day National Day holiday, dubbed the "Golden Week" by the Chinese, China's international flight bookings doubled compared to the same period of last year, with Europe seeing the strongest growth, according to a report by Bloomberg, citing two of China's largest online travel agencies, Qunar and Trip.com. Additionally, online travel platform Fliggy noted that Croatia was among the destinations with the steepest rise in travel bookings.

In Croatia's capital, a group of Chinese tourists from Beijing were posing for a group photo. It was their first visit to this part of Europe.

Jiang Xiaoliang is a local guide for Chinese groups arriving in Croatia. He has lived here for 18 years.

According to the Croatian National Tourist Board, Chinese tourist numbers to the islands of Croatia are up more than 90 percent compared to last year. But Jiang believes more can be done to attract Chinese money.

One of the major local tourist agencies agreed that Croatia has to do more in this regard.

Tourism is a key driver of Croatia's economy. The country's tourism revenues reached a record high of 4.13 billion euros in the first half of 2024, marking a 7.5 percent increase compared to the same period of last year, according to the Croatian National Bank.

Most of Croatia's attractions are located along the beautiful Adriatic coastline. Although the high tourist season at the coast is finished in Zagreb, a city known for many historic landmarks, tourist numbers are still quite above the average. This also applies to the Chinese visitors. The Croatian National Tourist Board expects this upward trend to continue as Chinese tourists travel year-round.

Shotlist:
Zagreb, Croatia - Oct 8, 2024:
1. Various of Chinese tourists posing for photos, talking to locals;
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Shen Guixiang, Chinese tourist:
"It is beautiful. So, we have seen the whole about Croatia. I wish I can come again.";
3. Tourists taking photos at scenic spot;
4. Various of tour guide Jiang Xiaoliang serving tourists;
5. SOUNDBITE (Croatian, dubbed in English) Jiang Xiaoliang, Chinese language tour guide:
"A group of around 30 people said that everyone had around 3,000 euros in cash, and they wanted to buy some local souvenirs. But at the end they spent almost nothing because there wasn’t anything they wanted to buy.";
6. Street view, Croatia national flag, Zagreb city flag, EU flag;
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivan Rukavina, sales director, Uniline:
"That means to offer more unique local products in a way that Chinese clients can see more of our traditions, more of some local culture, special thing that we only offer in Europe.";
8. Local market, pedestrians;
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sasa Popovac, head of Market Research and Analytics, Croatian National Tourist Board:
"When we look at the level of satisfaction with their visit and experience of Croatia, security is the top aspect that they appreciate the most, followed by overall satisfaction with stay and beauty of nature and landscape.";
10. Street view;
11. Various of tourists.

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