ForwardKeys has long encouraged governments and tourism organizations to announce their border re-openings as far in advance as possible. We observed that this greatly benefited destinations such as Greece and Portugal for the 2020 summer season and there appears to be a case of Deja Vu for Greece, but now we have newcomers to the early announcement club: Iceland and Croatia. Welcoming vaccinated travelers is not only a trend but a fast-growing reality.
The top cities for vaccinated US travelers to Croatia place Dubrovnik in prime position with 34% shares of total international travelers. The capital, Zagreb, is number 2 with 31% shares and coastal Split is number 3 with 31% shares.
Croatian hotels and travel operators should also prepare themselves for travelers traveling in multiple numbers, not solo. Indeed, the data points to couples and families being the main markets traveling this summer to Croatia from the USA.
“The ticketing data is showing some interesting tips for hoteliers and tourism organizations to seize this summer in Croatia and Greece,” says Luis Millan, Market Research Manager at ForwardKeys.
“Not only are US travelers traveling in pairs or more, but the average length of stay is up from 15 days in 2019 to 24 days in 2021,” adds Millan.
“What is interesting to mention is the fact that there is more high-class travel happening this year, compared to 2019”, says Millan.