By bizn_fun 
Marko Peric, dean of the Faculty of Tourism at Croatia’s University of Rijeka, agrees that Zagreb Advent brings “unusually high” numbers of arrivals and overnight stays in December.
But he cautions that the rest of Croatia’s heavy reliance on the summer season is a weakness that still needs to be addressed. “We need to work and develop our tourist offer in other parts of the year, including the winter,” he says.
“We don’t have snow, but we can offer a lot. We should rely on our gastronomy, which is well known, with many tourists arriving just because of that. And we could use other types of events like carnival in February, or sporting events.”
Tourism Minister Tonci Glavina insists that Croatia is making moves in the right direction. He points out that visitor numbers over July and August were actually slightly down on the same period in 2024.
But the country is still on course for a record-breaking year, thanks to significant growth either side of the summer peak, with around 5% more arrivals in June and September. This, says the minister, is “just perfect”, as is the 10% year-on-year rise over the first week of December.
“We are transforming Croatia to be a sustainable tourism destination, meaning about the same number of guests in peak season, developing the shoulder seasons, and of course developing other parts of the country to be main tourism destinations.”
Zagreb Advent has already shown the benefits. Although that may not be the first thing that springs to a visitor’s mind with all the traditional Croatian treats on offer.
After all, what could be better than a post-skate fritule doughnut, except perhaps a fritule with chocolate sauce.