Mabrian, a leading travel intelligence company, has analyzed in a new study the low season opportunities for Croatia and the Mediterranean. The analysis was presented at the 7th edition of the Tourism 365 Conference that has taken place in Toplice, Croatia, this month.
This forum brought together both public entities in the tourism sector and major private companies to discuss opportunities for maintaining sustainable tourism activity throughout the south-eastern Mediterranean region all year round. The conference also featured prominent international speakers, including Carlos Cendra, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mabrian, who presented forecasts and analyses of tourism strengths and opportunities for Croatia and other Mediterranean countries.
The main conclusions of the study are:
· A Seasonal Context with Room for Improvement. Croatia still has room for improvement during the considered low season months. When compared to the context and its closest competitors, the data indicates that the Southeast Mediterranean region is 9 percentage points more dependent on the high season than the average in the nearby Mediterranean, while Croatia is 16% more.
· Promising Prospects for the Low Season. One of the main takeaways from Mabrian’s analysis is the promising outlook for Croatia in the coming months. It forecasts a 10% increase in tourism from September to March 24, compared to last year. In terms of growth, Croatia is expected to outperform Italy and Turkey during these months, although it has not yet reached the levels seen in Greece.
· Croatia Well Positioned for Travellers’ Motivations. According to the latest global travellers’ motivations study conducted by Mabrian, there is a consistent growth in experiential motivations for travel, substituting more conventional motivations. Analysis of travellers sentiment and preferences, based on over 400 million interactions on social media, reveals that interests in Active, Natural, Wellness, and Gastronomy experiences are gaining importance over Sunbathing, Family Travel, Shopping, and Nightlife. This positions Croatia with a great opportunity to solidify its leadership in Nature and Active tourism products during the low season, compared to Mediterranean competitors. Additionally, there is an interesting opportunity to further develop Gastronomy and Culture-related activities, which were among the main travellers interests from October to March during the Autumn-Winter 2022-2023 season.
Ivana Kolar, CEO at Julius Rose Consulting and Director of the Tourism 365 Conference, commented, “It is great to have confirmation that the Southeast Mediterranean region and Croatia are moving forward to achieve a more balanced tourism activity throughout the year. This has been the objective of this conference since its inception 7 years ago – bringing together governments and companies to align on vision and strategy”.
Carlos Cendra, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mabrian added, “There are no doubts about the development possibilities of the region and Croatia for the non-summer season. The data shows excellent security perception and a well-balanced tourism offering to generate sustainable activity throughout the year, thereby boosting local economies”.
Mabrian Technologies is an international data intelligence company specializing in travel and tourism. It provides updated information and trends to destinations and companies. Powered by proprietary technology based on Big Data and AI, and supported by a tourism advisory team, Mabrian aggregates data from over 30 global sources to advise destinations in more than 40 countries. The company has now begun working in the Southeast Mediterranean region, thanks to its partnership with New Deal Europe.
