Growth has slowed this year in emerging Europe, but the slowdown has been less marked along the Adriatic coast of southeastern Europe. The reason – becoming clearer as tourist arrivals data comes in from Albania, Croatia and Montenegro – is the very busy tourist season of summer 2023.
Although GDP growth did not keep pace with the strong rebound in growth immediately after the pandemic, the region’s tourism-dependent economies avoided the sharp slowdowns seen in Central Europe as tourism offset weak exports.
“In the Western Balkans, the effect of weakening trade with eurozone partners at the start of 2023 was partly offset by the good performance of the tourism sector in the region’s service economies,” a declared the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). in its latest regional economic outlook report in September.
The development bank projects the region’s GDP will grow 2% this year, reaching 3.4% in 2024. That compares to projected growth this year of just 0.5% in Central Europe and the Baltic states. .
Foreign tourism revenue in Croatia reached 3.85 billion euros in 1H23, up 21.4% year-on-year, according to the Croatian National Bank (HNB). In 2Q23 alone, turnover amounted to €3.18 billion, an increase of 18.4% year-on-year.
Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac said: “After the record year 2022 in terms of foreign tourism income, in 2023 we are recording even better results. Croatia has made great strides in terms of quality and has become recognized as a popular tourist destination also outside of the summer month.
During the first eight months of the year, Croatia reported 8% increase in arrivals and a 2% year-on-year increase in overnight stays, the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) reported on September 5.
Data from the eVistor system showed a total of 16.2 million arrivals and 88.5 million overnight stays, reflecting pre-pandemic levels of 2019. German tourists contributed the most to overnight stays, with 18.8 million.
In August alone, Croatia welcomed 4.6 million arrivals and recorded 31.5 million overnight stays, with arrivals up 1% and stays down 2% year-on-year.
“Despite the current circumstances, including the impact of global inflation and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Croatia achieved an excellent result, which will be further strengthened in the post-summer season,” said the director of HTZ, Kristjan Stanicic.
Standard & Poor’s rating agency classified as “dynamic tourism” among the drivers of Croatia’s growth, when the outlook for the country’s long-term sovereign rating was upgraded to positive.
Albania reported 1.9 million foreign tourist arrivals in August, an increase of 22.5% year-on-year, according to the statistics office Instat. This confirms the strong performance of the tourism sector already observed in July, the first of the peak summer months.
In total, during the first eight months of the year, 6.7 million foreign citizens arrived in Albania for vacations, visits to relatives or other personal reasons, an increase of 26.6%. over a year.
Passenger traffic at Tirana Airport more than doubled in the first half of 2023, helped by budget airline Ryanair’s decision to start operating flights to and from Albania, according to data from the Airports Council International (ACI).
Tirana International Airport, Albania’s main airport, recorded a 105.1% year-on-year increase in passenger traffic in 2023. Albania did even better in June, at the start of the summer tourist season .
Ryanair’s decision follows an increase in the number of tourists visiting Albania, which has seen a dramatic recovery in the tourism sector post-pandemic, as well as an expansion of capacity at Tirana International Airport to accommodate up to 10 million passengers per year.
The increase in tourist arrivals occurred despite the strong rise in the lek against the euro and other major currencies, which has made the country somewhat less affordable.
In Montenegro, the the number of tourists rose to 240,754 in Augustup 6% year-on-year, according to data from the statistics office.
As in Albania and Croatia, tourism is a key industry for the Montenegrin economy, contributing around a quarter to its GDP. In 2020, it was hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, but recovered quickly. Expectations for this year are that visitor numbers will reach a new record, improving on 2019.
Overall, the statistics bureau said foreign tourist arrivals totaled 221,416 in the eighth month of the year. Tourist overnight stays amounted to 1,085 million, compared to 1,043 million a year ago. Overnight stays by foreign tourists amounted to 999,203.
In 2022, tourist arrivals increased by 30.5% year-on-year to reach 2.18 million.
