Last year around 234,000 Chinese tourists visited Croatia. We also have tourists from Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong, to reach over 400,000 tourist nights.

In general, Chinese tourists have the greatest growth in Croatia within the Asian tourist population, and are expected to become the dominant tourist force from Asia in Croatia this year, according to data from the Chinese Southeast European Business Association (CSEBA).

However, Asian and even Chinese tourists are staying in Croatia very short, on average only one and a half day. Much less than a typical European tourist staying in Croatia for seven to ten days. Unlike the average Europeans interested in sun, sea and swimming, Chinese tourists are interested in cultural monuments, gastronomic offer ...

The biggest problems with Chinese tourists are still the visa regime and the lack of direct airline lines on the Croatia-PR China route. These topics will soon be discussed at the China Plus 16 Summit scheduled for early April in Dubrovnik.

However, one figure shows how much the potential for Croatia is represented by Chinese tourists. According to CSEBA's analysis among the 72 countries most visited by Chinese tourists, Croatia is ranked 37th. But Croatia is in the first place when it comes to states that do not have direct air connections to any of the Chinese cities.

Out of 72 countries, only six of them have no direct airline lines for NR China, including Croatia. This is something that needs to be changed urgently. Unofficially, talks on this subject are very intensive and we could finally see a direct link on the Croatia-PR China route next year.