NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

The purpose of the statistical survey

The purpose of the statistical survey entitled Tourist Activity of the Population of the Republic of Croatia is to gather data on national tourism, that is, data on the number and characteristics of travels of the Croatian population outside their usual environment. Its goal is to assess how much the Croatian population travels, their reasons for going on a trip, where and when they travel, how long the trips last and what the expenditures on those trips amount to. For the surveyed persons who did not go on private trips with overnight stays, data on reasons for not going on a trip are gathered. The survey has been continually carried out since 2007 and it covers private and business/professional trips with overnight stays, same-day visits, as well as trips in Croatia and abroad.

Legal and methodological basis

The survey is carried out according to the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20) and the Regulation (EU) No. 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 concerning European statistics on tourism and repealing Council Directive 95/57//EC.

Confidentiality

The confidentiality of collected data is guaranteed by the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20) and the Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009. The collected data are used solely for statistical purposes.

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics processes the collected data and issues the results in aggregated form on the web site of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (https://podaci.dzs.hr/en/).

Observation units and coverage

The observation units for data on the number of persons who went on a trip are Croatian citizens aged 15 and over. The observation units for data on the number of trips with overnight stays and same-day visits and their characteristics are trips of Croatian citizens aged 15 and over.

This survey covers trips with regard to the main reason for going on a trip (private and business/professional) and the main destination of a trip (in Croatia and abroad) that ended in the reporting period. The month of departure for a trip with overnight stays may be outside the reporting period).

In section Tourist Activity of the Population of the Republic of Croatia (Table 1), data on the number of trips with overnight stays, nights and expenditure in the period from 2014 to 2019 at the level of counties of residence of persons who went to those trips are published. Since 2020, data on the number of trips with overnight stays, nights and expenditure have been published in Table 12 at the level of statistical regions of residence of persons who went to those trips (2^nd level), i.e. they have been published at the level of four non-administrative units formed by grouping of counties as lower-level administrative units, pursuant to the National Classification of Statistical Regions 2021 (HR_NUTS 2021) (NN, No. 125/19).

Sources and methods of data collection

In 2014, the basis for the sampling frame was the database of all fixed telephone lines in the Republic of Croatia. A random sample stratified according to the county, size of settlement, sex and age of the surveyed persons was used in the survey. The stratification was carried out on the basis of the 2011 Census data. Since 2015, the basis for the sampling frame has been a directory of fixed and mobile telephone lines in the Republic of Croatia. A random sample stratified according to the county and a type of telephone line (fixed or mobile) was used in the survey. The target population for the survey are the citizens of the Republic of Croatia aged 15 years and over living in private households. The frame does not include persons living in institutions (homes for the elderly, prisons and the like), the citizens of the Republic of Croatia living abroad and foreign citizens living in Croatia. If the sample covered a fixed telephone line, surveyed persons were selected from randomly selected households according to the birthday key method.

The data on the tourist activity of the Croatian population were gathered through computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI method) on the representative sample consisting of the total of 22 000 citizens of the Republic of Croatia aged 15 years and over.

The data were gathered by carrying out four waves of the CATI survey. A quarter was taken as a reference period. The trip had to end within the reference period and could have started up to 365 days prior to its end.

The characteristics of trips are monitored on the level of no more than four overnight stays and no more than four same-day visits. The following data are gathered for each individual trip: type of trip (private, business/professional), the main reason for going on the trip, the month in which the person went on the trip, the duration of the trip with overnight stays (the number of nights), the destination country for trips abroad, type of destination (city, sea, inner regions, mountains, cruise, other), the organisation of the trip (self-organised, through an agency), the main transportation means, the type of accommodation on trips with overnight stays, the trip expenditures.

In addition to the previously mentioned characteristics of trips, data are also gathered on the socio-demographic profile of the population (age, sex, level of education, number of persons in the household, status in employment, county).

Due to the fact that data on tourist activity of the population of the Republic of Croatia refer to each individual quarterly period, merging the results of four quarterly periods does not allow for the assessment of the number/share of persons who went and who did not go on a trip in the observed year. The assessment of the number of persons who went on a trip was calculated on the basis of
7 000 persons who were surveyed in the last (fourth) survey wave.

Definitions

Tourism means the activity of visitors taking a trip to a main destination outside their usual environment for less than a year, for leisure, business or other personal purpose other than to be employed by a resident entity in the place visited.

Place of usual residence is considered a place where a person came with an intention of permanent residence.

National tourism of a country encompasses national tourism, which includes activities of citizens of a particular country who travel and are accommodated in places within that country but outside their usual environment, and outbound tourism, which includes the activities of citizens of a particular country who travel and are accommodated in places outside the borders of that country and outside their usual environment.

Usual environment of a person is immediate vicinity of the person’s home and place of work or schooling, or other places that the person regularly visits. Each person has only one usual environment. The following criteria define a usual environment: crossing of the administrative borders of the distance from the place of usual residence; duration of a trip; the frequency of going on a trip; the purpose of a trip. For example, a municipality may be seen as a person's usual environment in Croatia.

Same-day visitor is every person who travels to a place outside his/her usual environment, who does not spend a night in a hotel or some other tourist accommodation establishment and whose main purpose of travelling differs from performing a particular activity financed by a resident entity in the place visited. The duration of same-day visits is measured by hours. A person who commutes on daily basis to another place to work or school is not considered a same-day visitor.

Tourist is every person who, outside his/her place of permanent residence, spends at least one night in a commercial or non-commercial accommodation establishment (but not longer than 12 months without interruption) for reasons of rest, recreation, leisure, visiting relatives or friends, preservation and improvement of health, business, religious and other reasons, but excluding trips financed by a resident entity in the place visited. Tourists exclude migrants, borderline workers, diplomats, military force members on their regular duties, displaced persons and nomads.

Purpose of a trip is a basic reason why a person goes on a trip, i.e. without which a given destination would not be visited. Tourist trips, depending on their purpose, can be: private (rest, recreation or leisure, including visits to relatives and friends) and business/professional (participation in congresses, conferences, business meetings, fairs, exhibitions, courses of foreign languages and other education-related trips, cultural, sports and similar trips).

Private trip is a tourist trip aiming at rest, recreation, shopping, health, pilgrimage, religious reasons, visit to relatives and friends, etc. Private trips do not include weekly migrations or departure for work or schooling, seasonal work, staying in hospitals or spas financed by social insurance contributions, staying in refugee camps and asylum.

Business/Professional trip is a trip for business or professional reasons, excluding daily local trips or business-motivated trips in usual environment. Business/Professional trips include trips to congresses, conferences, business meetings, fairs, exhibitions, language learning and other educational trips, cultural, sports and similar trips. Trips financed by a resident entity in the place visited are excluded.

Duration of a tourist trip is time spent on a trip and can last no more than 365 days without interruption. According to the duration criterion, trips are divided to same-day visits and trips with overnight stays. Same-day visits are trips on which a person spends at least three hours. Trips with overnight stays are trips on which a person realises at least one, but not more than 365 nights.

Duration of a trip with overnight stays is measured by nights spent at destination. There are shorter and longer trips.

Shorter trips are trips on which tourists realise one to three tourist nights.

Longer trips are trips on which tourists realise four or more tourist nights.

Expenditures on tourism trips include all travelling expenses that occurred before the beginning of the trip and during the trip. These expenditures may also be made by another person on behalf of the visitor or at the visitor’s expense.

Pursuant to Article 74 of the Act on the Introduction of the Euro as the Official Currency in the Republic of Croatia, which entered into force on 15 July 2022, statistical data are expressed in euro with effect from 1 January 2023. Data relating to the period prior to 1 January 2023 were converted into euro at a fixed exchange rate (1 euro = 7.53450 kuna).

In certain tables, the sum total does not equal the sum of individual figures due to the rounding of the figures.

Abbreviations

EC

European Community

EU

European Union

NN

Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia

Symbols

-

no occurrence