Sustainable Tourism

Before the start of the main tourist season in 2025, the KAS Office Croatia and Slovenia, together with the Croatian County Association (CCA), held a conference on the development and future of Croatian tourism. Croatia is one of the most important tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, attracting around 20 million foreign tourists annually. The country has numerous natural treasures and is very popular among tourists from all over the world. Accordingly, tourism is the most important economic sector in the country, accounting for nearly 20 percent of GDP. Around two-thirds of Croatia’s GDP comes from the service sector. However, Croatian tourism has recently faced major challenges due to ongoing inflation and the enormous rise in prices, mass tourism, a shortage of workers, and new tax policies. Therefore, sustainability was highlighted as a priority for tourism development in Croatia. Only sustainability could provide answers to the current challenges by creating a balance between economic and social growth, as well as caring for all aspects of the environment. Croatia’s Minister for Tourism and Sports, Tonči Glavina, emphasized that sustainability should be based on a stable pricing policy and that an organized system must be established to support and adjust this policy. He reminded that the Croatian government has made fundamental changes in the tourism sector, but that the challenges in tourism cannot only be solved through tourism policy but also through housing, tax, and labor market policies. The first systemic approaches aimed at providing solutions were introduced through amendments to five laws, according to the minister. The goal is to improve the quality of life of the local population and create affordable housing through the implementation of reforms. This is how the housing shortage caused by the short-term rental of apartments to tourists in tourist regions is to be counteracted.