Croatia – a respectable camping destination

A meeting of the European Federation of Campingsite Organizations and Holiday Park Associations (EFCO & HP), an organization established in 1979 and bringing together around 25 thousand European campingsites and camp resorts, was held in Umag in late September. Such important convention in Croatia, the region of Istria and the tourist destination of Umag is an acknowledgement of the local camping offer providing the guests with holidays in a beautiful and ecologically preserved environment, keeping up with the growing camping services standards. Croatia has a total of around 226 campingsites and 278 private estate campingsites having a total accommodation capcity of 224,000 persons. The private state campingsites account for around 10,000 units.

According to the Croatian Camping Union, campingsites account for 23.7 percent of the country’s accommodation capacities and they have an approximately equal share in tourist overnights. Around fifteen campingsites having a total capacity of 22.5 thousand persons are classified as four stars, while 57 campingsites having a capacity of a little over 88 thousand persons are classified as three stars. High-category (4 and 3 stars) are mainly in Istria, which also has the most numerous camping capacities, followed
by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and Zadar County in the third place. Dubrovnik-Neretva County, the southernmost part of Croatia, is the second in the number of four-star campingsites. The Croatian Camping Union evaluated with year’s camping season as successful. According to their estimates, Croatian campingsites had 12.624 million overnights in the first eight months, or 3.2 percent over 2007. Istria, the most developed Croatian camping destination, had 6.825 million overnights, or 3.4 over last year. The average annual campingsite occupancy is 59.1 days, the highest figures achieved in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County – 67.1 days. Of course, the longest stays are achieved in four-star camps – as much as 87 day. The average duration of stay in campingsites is 6.7, with Istria as
number one with an average duration of stay of eight days.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Germans are the most numerous campingsite guests, followed by Slovenia, The Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic… Every year, the traditional markets are accompanied with new ones. The Croatian Camping Union plans to present the offer more intensively to such guests.

Croatian Camping Union
www.camping.hr