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Tour operators are preparing estimates for the last visa-free season in Croatia

18:59, 16 марта 2012

This summer Croatia will again be visa-free for Russian tourists. The decision to simplify the border crossing was adopted by the country’s government. The Croatian National Tourist Office in Moscow confirmed that the new procedure will come into effect on April 1 and will last till October 31, 2012. Russians entering Croatia before April 1 will have to present a tourist voucher or the original hotel reservation papers. Those who have a Schengen visa can enter Croatia using just that, since January 1, 2012.

Tour operators are positive that Russians, who have been postponing their trip to Croatia, will surely use the chance to visit the country with just a foreign passport this year. Note that on July 1, 2013 Croatia will become the 28th member of the EU and thus will have to introduce visas for Russian tourists. Actually, Croatia was not sure till the last moment that the visa-free regime, which had been in place for last three seasons, could be maintained throughout 2012. That issue had to be coordinated with the European Commission.

The increase of tourist flow from Russia to Croatia in 2011 was about 20%, and counting the independent tourists, the overall increase amounted to 30%. About 190 thousand tourists from Russia spent their vacations on Croatian resorts. This year, according to market players, the demand will go even higher.

Tour operator PAKS has stated in an interview to RATA-news that there’s already a notable splash of interest towards early bookings of Croatian resorts. Some hotels have actually stopped receiving bookings for peak dates. And the prices have increased only slightly – about 5-10%. According to Natalia Ivanova, deputy General Manager of PAKS, last year some operators had to introduce special offers at some point due to the excess of air transportation, but this year the increased tourist flow will balance things out. The expert believes that this year’s season should be pretty steady, if you take all the factors into account.

Alexander Davtyan, deputy Manager of the Croatian department of Nouvelle Trans, is also hoping for an increase in sales, but he has doubts about the profitability of the destination. “Aeroflot has already confirmed daily flights to Split and Dubrovnik, so it’s possible that we’ll have another excess of flights” – noted the source in an interview to RATA-news.

But after the visa regime is back next summer, the carriers will have to tame their appetites, thinks Mr. Davtyan. According to his predictions, the tourist flow will drop 20-30%. Natalia Ivanova, on the other hand, thinks that visas are not a serious barrier for Russian tourists, so there won’t be a serious downfall of interest towards Croatia after the country becomes a part of EU. “Probably only people, who are used to buying last minute tours will pass up on Croatia”, - assumed the PAKS representative.

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