Frustrated Croatia vows to bounce back after ‘disappointing’ decision

Croatian tourism chiefs have spoken of their disappointment at being struck off the UK’s safe travel list but vowed to do whatever it takes to be reinstated before the end of the summer season.

The decision – widely expected – came in spite of repeated claims from Croatia that it was safe for travellers, with the largest rise in Covid cases limited to non-tourist areas.

The Croatian National Tourist Office estimated that 17,000 British tourists are in the country. With a limited number of flights back to the UK before the 4am quarantine cut off on Saturday, there is unlikely to be a mass rush to return home early.

What flights are operating ahead of restrictions being imposed were reported to be costing up to eight times the usual price.

From the early hours of Saturday travellers returning from Croatia, Austria and Trinidad & Tobago will be required to quarantine for 14 days. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against non-essential travel to all three destinations.

UK Director of the Croatia National Tourist Office, Darija Reic, told TravelMole it was ‘very disappointed’ but said the decision had been expected.

The ruling came after the weekly Covid cases per 100,000 people in Croatia increased from 10.4 on 12 August to 27.4 on 19 August, a rise of 164% rise.

"If you consider the scenario that has happened in the previous few weeks with other countries this was expected, but obviously it is very disappointing," she said. "The UK is one of our most important markets. Last year we had just under 900,000 arrivals, and 4.5 million overnight stays so this is a significant figure for us.

"We do value British guests so certainly they will be missed."

Reic said a ‘significant’ number of UK tourists were due to travel over the next six weeks.

"Of course our government is constantly monitoring the situation and there will be further measures to contain the virus. But we are also hopeful the UK Government might consider alternatives to the 14 -day quarantine.

"If both of those factors happen we are hopeful that at some point in September we will be able to resume normal travel to Croatia."

Reic said most of the Covid spikes had been limited to large family gatherings in the eastern part of the country.

But with over 700,000 tourists in Croatia it was ‘inevitable’ those number would increase, she said.

"But the majority of the Croatian coast still has very low numbers," Reic added.

Asked if UK officials had made the wrong decision and whether Croatia shared Spain’s anger at being removed from the travel corridor, Reic said: "Anger is a strong word, but absolutely we are very disappointed because the situation in Croatia cannot be generalised. There are so many regions along the coast that are still unaffected or have low numbers of new infections.

"It would have been more positive had the UK Government decided to restrict travel to certain regions rather than the whole country." 

Meanwhile, the numbers of Covid cases in Trinidad & Tobago increased over the past four weeks, with a 232% rise in the number per 100,000 people between 12 and 19 August.

In Austria, the weekly number of cases per 100,000 climbed from 10.5 on 13 August to 20.3 on 20 August, a 93% increase.

By Steve Jones, Contributing Editor