Matka  2004

Croatian  National Tourist Board – Stand Number   6h45

         CROATIA’S DECLARES 2003 A GOLDEN YEAR
The Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB) is declaring 2003 a golden year with the Mediterranean’s ‘hottest’ new destination having attracted over 8,2  million visitors in just the first eleven  months of the year.
The Scandinavians  has been instrumental in helping to achieve this growth with 116,918 visitors.– a growth of 50  per cent over 2002.
During the season January-November 2003 , 9,028   Finnish tourists  visited Croatia. The goal is 25,000 Finnish tourists  in 2007.
Overall tourism has grown by 6 per cent this year further underlining Croatia’s appeal as a year round destination offering a unique mixture of 1,800 kilometres of unspoilt coastline, crystal clear seas, numerous national parks, a rich cultural heritage, fine cuisine, a variety of holiday experiences and all at excellent value for money prices.
From june  to october  Aurinkomatkat will offer charter trips to Dubrovnik and Korcula.

 My Travel, Tjareborg, http://www.tjareborg.fi/frontpage/frontpage.aspx   now join Aurinkomatkat , www.aurinkomatkat.fi  in promoting Croatia as a holiday destination.  Tjareborg offers fligths to Split and has Makarska Riviera, Jelsa  and city of Split as destinations.

 Töölö Travel, www.toolomatkatoimisto.fi    offers trips to Zagreb, Istria and Kvarner by regular flights. .
 Looking ahead the CNTB is setting ambitious targets to have tourism back to 1990 levels by 2005. In order to reach this target Croatia will have to achieve a volume increase of 3 per cent during 2004.
 This increase is to be achieved through a series of measures including investment to raise the quality of accommodation on offer and to bring new accommodation on board through a combination of new builds and restoration and refurbishment of older properties.To assist with this programme, the government is undertaking a privatisation of the tourism portfolio.
 With the increase in accommodation comes the opportunity to develop new products ranging from adventure and activity holidays to agro-tourism.
It is also hoped that hotels will be open for longer thereby extending the tourist season beyond the key summer months and into the spring and autumn.
Croatia is following world trends in the shift from service tourism to experience and adventure tourism, and adding to  the current image of Croatia, based solely on sun and sea, stressing cleanlinnes, non-pollution, hospitality, safety, adventure, substance, entertainment and emotion.
Croatia has much variation to offer its foreign guests: unlimited pleasure of swimming in a sea with almost 1,800 of shoreline, picturesque cities filled with rich cultural heritage, national and nature parks of exceptional beauty and places for activities of all kinds-from horseback riding and bicycling, tennis and diving, to mountaineering  and canoeing, it´ s all here. Croatia offers its visitors the greatest potential, throughout  the entire  year, to suit everyone´s  desire. Croatia also offers quality: in terms of environmental protection , Croatia is  well ahead of other European destinations, a fact confirmed by studies conducted at Yale and Columbia Universities. For those who sail and participate in other water sports, ther is certainly no better choise than this country with a thousand islands. Gourmands will delight in truffles, lobster or oysters;  adventure lovers  will head down old mule paths or try Robinsson Crousoe tourism in the idyllic Kornati archipelago. And for those who want to just lie on the beach, they can equally enjoy the hidden coves as they can the luxury hotels or well developed auto camps.