Tourist numbers for Hvar exceed expectations

The Jelsa Tourist Board revealed the most numerous guests staying on Hvar Island are from Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and Croatia.

In the first seven months of 2020, Jelsa had a total of 155 thousand overnight stays. Meanwhile, July accounted for 74% of the last year’s overnight stays when compared to the same month last year. When comparing results for the first seven months with 2019, a total of 49% and 63% of arrivals and overnight stays was recorded, respectively. Considering the global pandemic, tourist board personnel do not hide their satisfaction with the numbers. Significant number of people taking one-day trips to Brac from Makarska Riviera should also be added to these numbers.

The Vrboska Tourist Board has its own numbers. Official data says that “Little Venice”, as it’s called, recorded 5118 arrivals (53%) and 42766 stays (56%). Therefore, people of Hvar aren’t disappointed, due to low expectations they had at the beginning of the season.

Stari Grad Town is a favorite to numerous tourists, especially from Slovenia, Poland and Czech Republic. All together, they generate over 60% of total traffic. Therefore, in July 2020 Stari Grad had 48% of stays when compared to the same month last year. Arrivals are at 42%, giving the impression that average time of staying on the Island is a bit longer than in 2019. Overall, in the first seven months of 2020, there were 52% of stays compared to 2019, most of which is thanks to private accommodation and apartments, but also nautical traffic.

Thanks to solid advertising, most guests are from Germany, Slovenia and Poland. In the last days of July, almost 4 thousand people were in Stari Grad, a 58% of last year. Hence, the situation is better than expected. The Tourist Board expects an increase of 10-15% in August, most notably because of the scheduled flights from the UK and Scandinavia, giving more optimism for the rest of the season. As for next year, it’s possible that Island image is gonna change from party destination to cultural and natural location.