Tourist Arrivals and Nights in Commercial Accommodation Establishments
NOTES ON METHODOLOGY
Purpose of the statistical survey
The purpose of the statistical survey is to monitor the tourist activity realised in commercial accommodation establishments and to provide internationally comparable data in accordance with the European standards for tourism statistics. The results of this survey ensure the basic indicators necessary for the analysis of tourism in the Republic of Croatia. The basic indicators are the following: tourist arrivals and nights by country of residence, types of accommodation establishments, tourists by sex and age groups, mode of arrival as well as the number of rooms and permanent beds.
Legal basis
The survey is implemented on the basis of the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20) and the Regulation (EU) No. 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism.
Observation units
Observation units are all legal entities and natural persons that provide overnight accommodation services, as well as natural persons who provide hospitality services in households and on private family farms.
The Hotel and Restaurant Activity Act (NN, Nos 85/15, 121/16, 99/18, 25/19, 98/19, 32/20, 42/20 and 126/21) defines the manner and conditions under which legal entities and natural persons can provide overnight accommodation in an accommodation establishment.
Sources and methods of data collection
The data source for the statistical survey on tourism activity (the number of tourist arrivals and nights) and accommodation establishments is the eVisitor system. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics takes over data from the administrative source eVisitor system from the Croatian National Tourist Board on a monthly basis and further processes them statistically. Monthly data are taken over on the seventh day of the month for the previous month.
All legal entities and natural persons that provide overnight accommodation services in an accommodation establishment, as well as natural persons who provide hospitality services in households and on private family farms, according to the Ordinance on the eVisitor System (NN, No. 43/20), check in and check out tourists via the eVisitor system, as the central electronic system for checking in and checking out tourists in the Republic of Croatia.
Coverage and comparability
This statistical survey covers accommodation establishments that are categorised in the groups Hotels, Camping sites and Other accommodation establishments pursuant to the Hotel and Restaurant Activity Act (NN, Nos 85/15, 121/16, 99/18, 25/19, 98/19, 32/20, 42/20 and 126/21). The Minister of Tourism prescribes the types of accommodation establishments within these groups in an ordinance.
According to the Ordinance on Classification, Categorisation and Special Standards of Accommodation Establishments in the group Hotels (NN, Nos 56/16 and 120/19), the types of accommodation establishments are the following: hotels, heritage hotels, all-suite hotels, integral hotels, diffuse hotels, special-standard hotels, spa-type accommodation, tourist resorts, tourist apartments, boarding houses and guest houses.
According to the Ordinance on Classification and Categorisation of Accommodation Establishments in the group Camping sites (NN, Nos 75/08, 54/16, 68/19 and 120/19), the types of accommodation establishments are the following: camping sites, glamping, small camps and quickstop camping.
According to the Ordinance on Classification and Categorisation of Accommodation Establishments in the group Other accommodation establishments (NN, Nos 54/16 and 69/17), the types of accommodation establishments are the following: rooms, apartments, studio-type suites, summer houses, overnight accommodations, vacation establishments for children, hostels, mountain lodges, hunting lodges, pupils’ homes or students’ homes or akademis and Robinson-type accommodation establishments.
According to the Ordinance on Classification and Categorisation of Establishments Providing Hospitality Services in Households (NN, Nos 9/16, 54/16, 61/16, 69/17 and 120/19), accommodation establishments in households are the following: rooms, suites, studio-type suites, summer houses, camping sites, quickstop camping and Robinson-type accommodation (quickstop camping – Robinson-type accommodation).
According to the Ordinance on Classification and Categorisation of Establishments Providing Hospitality Services on Private Family Farms (NN, Nos 54/16, 69/17 and 120/19) are the following: rooms, suites, rural summer houses, camping sites, quickstop camping and Robinson-type accommodation (quickstop camping – Robinson-type accommodation).
Pursuant to Article 29 of the Hotel and Restaurant Activity Act (NN, Nos 85/15, 121/16, 99/18, 25/19, 98/19, 32/20, 42/20 and 126/21), this statistical survey also covers organised off-site camping sites. During sports, scout, cultural/artistic and similar events as well as during organised trips in canoes and similar vessels on sea, rivers and lakes, or by bikes etc., organised off-site camping is allowed on spaces provided for it.
This statistical survey also covers the following establishments providing accommodation services: spas, inns offering accommodation services and uncategorised establishments.
Since 2010, nautical ports have no longer been considered reporting units or types of accommodation establishments in the Monthly Survey on Tourist Arrivals and Nights. It resulted from the implementation of the new Sojourn Tax Act (NN, Nos 152/08 and 59/09), which prescribes the manner of reporting sojourns on vessels. Due to the mentioned change in methodology caused by the implementation of new legislation on tourist monitoring, data for the period from 2005 to 2009 have been revised in order to make them comparable (nautical ports were excluded).
Since 2017, business entities sleeping cars and couchettes as well as business entities in river and sea water transport (only scheduled lines) have no longer been considered reporting units or types of accommodation establishments in the Monthly Survey on Tourist Arrivals and Nights. Due to this change in coverage, monthly data for the period from 2005 to 2016 have been revised in order to make data series comparable (by excluding business entities sleeping cars and couchettes as well as business entities in river and sea water transport).
In section Tourist arrivals and nights in commercial accommodation
in table 1.6, data on accommodation capacities and tourist arrivals and nights
were published at the level of the Republic of Croatia, NUTS 2 level, counties,
cities and municipalities. The National Classification of Territorial Units for
Statistics 2012 (NUTS) (NN, Nos 96/12 and 102/12) has ceased to be valid since
the day of application of the National Classification of Statistical Regions
2021 (HR NUTS 2021), i.e. since
1 January 2020 (NN, No. 125/19). Pursuant to Article 4 of the National
Classification of Statistical Regions 2021, for statistical and analytical
purposes of the official statistics of the Republic of Croatia, the National
Classification of Territorial Units for Statistics 2012 (NUTS) will be used
simultaneously in the transitional period until 31 December 2020. Due to the
above-mentioned changes, monthly data from 2020 onwards on accommodation
capacities and arrivals and overnight stays presented in table 1.8. are
published at the level of the Republic of Croatia, HR NUTS 2021 – level 2,
counties, cities and municipalities.
Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No. 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism, data on tourist arrivals and nights in the Republic of Croatia according to the NKD 2007, division 55, groups 55.1 Hotels and similar accommodation, 55.2 Holiday and other short-stay accommodation and 55.3 Camping sites and camping grounds are submitted to the Eurostat on a monthly basis. The mentioned data are published on Eurostat’s website http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat and are comparable to EU Member States data.
Pursuant to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Croatia on the Introduction of Temporary Protection in the Republic of Croatia for Displaced Persons from Ukraine of 7 March 2022, the citizens of Ukraine are granted temporary protection in accordance with the Act on International and Temporary Protection (NN, Nos 70/15, 127/17 and 33/23). Persons from Ukraine who have not requested temporary protection in the Republic of Croatia use the service of accommodation in a short-stay accommodation establishment and pay for the accommodation service. Therefore, they are registered in the eVisitor system and are considered tourists.
The data do not include non-commercial tourist traffic (the stay of owners and their relatives and friends in villas and summer houses as well as of tourists in other establishments where accommodation service is not charged, e.g., when they are accommodated by the citizens of a tourist town/municipality). Non-commercial tourist traffic is covered by a separate statistical survey.
Tourism Intensity in Towns and Municipalities
The following data were used for the calculation of tourist traffic intensity: the total number of permanent beds in commercial accommodation, the total number of tourist arrivals and the total number of tourist nights in commercial accommodation, the number of inhabitants according to the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Croatia in 2021, conducted by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, and the surface area of the Republic of Croatia according to the data of the State Geodetic Administration (calculated from the graphic database of spatial units for the implementation of the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Croatia in 2021), with the situation as on 21 July 2021.
The presented indicators of tourism intensity are the following: the number of tourist arrivals and nights per 100 inhabitants and the number of permanent beds per 100 inhabitants. The indicators of tourism density are the number of tourist arrivals and nights per unit of land area (in km2) and the number of permanent beds per unit of surface area (in km2).
Tourism in Seaside Towns and Municipalities
This area presents tourist arrivals and nights in settlements appurtenant to seaside towns/municipalities (Tables 1., 2. and 3.) as well as accommodation capacities, broken down into four groups (Hotels and similar accommodation, Holiday and other short-stay accommodation, Camping sites and camping grounds and Other accommodation) in settlements appurtenant to seaside towns/municipalities (Table 4.). According to the methodology, seaside towns/municipalities are the ones that are adjacent to the sea or in close vicinity of the sea. Accommodation capacities are shown as the number of rooms and the number of beds. Rooms include the number of rooms, apartments, camping sites and/or camping grounds. Data on the number of beds include permanent and extra beds.
Confidentiality
Aggregate data for which there are reasons for keeping their confidentiality in line with the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20) and with Regulation (EU) No. 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European statistics are treated as confidential and are not published.
Definitions
Tourism means the activity of visitors taking a trip to or staying in a main destination outside their usual environment for less than a year, for the purposes of leisure, business or other personal purposes other than to be employed by a resident entity in the place visited.
Tourist is every person who, outside his/her place of usual residence, spends at least one night in a hotel or some other accommodation establishment for reasons of rest, recreation, health, study, sport, religion, family, business, public tasks or meeting. Excluded are persons staying in a certain place for longer than 12 months in succession, persons whose main reason for visiting is an activity that is financed from the place of visit, persons who travel to their work place or an educational institution on a daily or weekly basis, persons coming into or going out of the country as migrants, borderline workers, diplomats, consular representatives and military force members on their regular duties, displaced persons and nomads.
A tourist is registered in every establishment where he/she stays. Consequently, in case tourists change the accommodation establishment they stay in, they are re-registered, which results in data ambiguity. Statistics thus register the number of tourist arrivals and not the number of tourists.
Domestic tourist is a person permanently residing in the Republic of Croatia who spends at least one night in a hotel or another accommodation establishment outside his or her place of permanent residence.
Foreign tourist is a person permanently residing outside the Republic of Croatia who temporarily resides in the Republic of Croatia and who spends at least one night in a hotel or another accommodation establishment.
Tourist arrival is the number of persons (tourists) who arrived and registered their stay in an accommodation establishment.
Tourist nights refer to every registered overnight stay of a person (tourist) in an accommodation establishment.
The number of tourist arrivals and nights includes the number of children, regardless of age.
Residence is the place where a person came with the intention of permanently staying there.
Age group of tourists is presented according to the years of age at the time of a stay in a tourist accommodation establishment.
Accommodation capacities are presented as the number of rooms, apartments and camping sites, and the number of permanent beds.
Permanent beds are those that are regularly available to guests.
Division 55 of the NKD 2007 includes short-stay accommodation service activities to tourists. Particular units may only provide accommodation services, while others may combine the services of accommodation, catering and/or recreation equipment. Tourist accommodation establishments listed in this division are broken down into four groups.
Group 55.1 Hotels and similar accommodation includes the following types of accommodation establishments: hotels, heritage hotels, all-suite hotels, integral hotels, diffuse hotels, spa-type accommodation, special standard hotels, tourist resorts, tourist apartments, boarding houses and guest houses.
Group 55.2 Holiday and other short-stay accommodation includes rooms, apartments, studio-type suites, summer houses, rural summer houses, hostels, spas, overnight accommodation, vacation establishments for children, inns offering accommodation services, mountain lodges, hunting lodges, pupils’ homes or students’ homes and Robinson-type accommodation establishments.
Group 55.3 Camping sites and camping grounds include camping sites, small camps, quickstop camping, quickstop camping – Robinson-type accommodation establishments and organised off-site camping sites.
Group 55.9 Other accommodation includes uncategorised establishments.
eVisitor is the central electronic system for checking in and checking out tourists that serves to link all tourist boards in the Republic of Croatia. It is available via the internet with no need for any additional software installations.
Check-in and check-out of tourists who are entered into the eVisitor system is authenticated on the basis of a secure access to the eVisitor authentication protocol, which contains the complete process for safe and proper electronic check-in and check-out of tourists.
Establishing and running the eVisitor system is the responsibility of the Croatian National Tourist Board.
The Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB) is a national tourist organisation founded in order to create and promote the identity and reputation of Croatian tourism, to plan and implement a common strategy and the concept of its promotion, to propose and perform the promotional activities of mutual interest for all entities in tourism in the country and abroad, as well as to raise the overall quality of the entire tourist offer in the Republic of Croatia. The head office of the CNTB is situated in Zagreb. The Minister of Tourism is filling the post of the President of the Croatian National Tourist Board.
Territorial constitution
Data by counties, cities and municipalities are given by the territorial constitution according to the Act on County, City and Municipality Areas in the Republic of Croatia (NN, Nos 86/06, 125/06, 16/07, 95/08, 145/10, 37/13, 44/13, 45/13 and 110/15).
Abbreviations
Eurostat Statistical Office of the European Union
HR NUTS 2021 National Classification of Statistical Regions 2021
km2 square kilometre
NKD 2007 National Classification of Activities, 2007 version
NN Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia
NUTS common classification of territorial units for statistics
z data are not published for confidentiality reasons
Symbols
- no occurrence
0,0 value not zero but less than 0.05 of the unit of measure used