A holiday hotspot which ranked in the top ten google searches of travel destinations last year is doubling its efforts to entice more tourists to its shores.
As protests against over-tourism in Spain dominate headlines, one country is actively pushing to welcome more British tourists than ever before.
Croatia might have seen a 4 per cent rise in tourism but a report by the European Travel Commission, a non-profit group that includes 36 national tourism organisations, found of the 73 per cent of Europeans that plan to travel before March 2025, only 4.1 per cent of respondents indicated Croatia as their preferred destination.
And despite marketing itself as a winter destination, with flights at this time of year from the UK up 15 per cent from the UK, the country wants to address the lack of return visitors.
For 2025 there are new flights, new hotel openings and a push on events and experiences to try and pull in more visitors, reports the Mirror.
And a ferry service that has lain dormant for decades will re-open in June to connect the Italian port city of Trieste with Poreč, Rovinj, and Mali Lošinj. These affordable new gateways will open new actress to Istria and the neighbouring Kvarner region.
New Flights
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Birmingham – twice weekly flights (Monday and Friday) added between 6th and 17th October 2025.
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Manchester – twice weekly flights (Monday and Thursday) added between 6th and 16th October 2025.
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London Stansted – weekly Saturday flights added on 11th and 18th October 2025.
A new twice-weekly easyJet route from Liverpool to Split is also set to launch on June 9, 2025 to help bring UK travellers to central Dalmatia.
Hotel openings
The new Heritage & Resort Hotel Monumenti in Pula which will feature seaside views from all four sides is set to open by spring, marking the final phase of the Sv. Katarina-Monumenti project. The hotel was constructed with an investment of €35 million. Additionally, the Marriott Isolano hotel which is situated on the Cres Island in the northern Adriatic Sea is set to open in March. The opening marks the Marriott group’s first venture into Croatia.
For those interested in luxury accommodation, the Hilton Hotel Preko located on Ugljan Island in the Zadar archipelago is set to open in May. As well, the five-star Hyatt Regency Zadar opened last year. Both exceptional properties offer stunning views of the Adriatic Sea.
Events and experiences
March 19 – March 23: Festival of Lights in Zagreb
March 29: Life on Mars Trail, unveiling moon-like landscapes of the island of Pag
April 1-30: Asparagus Festival in Lovran
April 11 – April 13: Weekend Food Festival in Rovinj
May 16 – May 18: Black Sheep dedicated to treasured traditions on Krk island
June 6 – June 8: Highlander Medvednica
September 9 – September 14: Highlander Velebit
With all these new events, flights and accommodations, Croatia is projected to outperform last year’s 9% growth in UK arrivals.
Dubrovnik even ranked 10th among the 2025 Top 10 Hottest Travel Destinations in a recent report by Yahoo Finance. The data was pulled from millions of searches analyzed by Kayak (the travel search engine) and ranked cities across the globe.
Dubrovnik experienced a 6% year-over-year increase in interest, solidifying its status as a bucket list destination.