Croatia Better Than Spain and Greece in the Charter Boats Market!

Zizoo, the world’s leading online boat rental platform, has released data showing that the Croatian nautical tourism sector outperforms all other travel segments, with Croatia retaining the title of top Mediterranean destination in the charter boats market!

Request for holidays on board in Croatia increased by 35% compared to the previous year, and marinas in the area of Split and Zadar and Sukošan had the largest influx of visitors, primarily from Germany, Austria, United Kingdom and the USA. Visitors from Scandinavia and the Benelux showed the largest increase in interest compared to the previous year.

“Nautical tourism is by far the fastest growing tourism sector in Croatia, ”said Sinan Mašović, Chief Financial Director and co-founder of Zizoo Platform, and added: “Zizoo is proud of its role in achieving this growth, especially among clients who discover sailing for the first time. Earlier this year, we closed another round of funding and we will use that investment to continue expanding the team as planned, to reach 100 employees by December, and we aim to further accelerate growth in 2020. We are constantly doubling our annual revenue and intend to keep that pace.”

Zizzo’s Sinan Mašović

The company has also released data related to the most commonly selected types of vessels that show the increasing popularity of medium to high range catamarans. “As more families and young people are tempted to take a holiday on board for the first time, we can see that these customers often choose catamarans for extra stability during sailing, space and safety,” added Mašović. “Holidays on board are a tourist segment that attracts high-paying clients and connects them with Croatian culture and activities that are part of sailing itself. Nautical tourism should be a major strategic theme for Croatia’s tourism strategy and an area where Croatia can be globally dominant.”

In the first nine months of 2019, the Croatian nautical sector recorded an increase of 11.8% in terms of the number of visitors compared to last year, with a particularly strong August (25.6% increase) and September (26.4% increase). With 3.3 million nights between January and September, the 2019 nautical tourism market has already reached 14.4% of all hotel nights and almost 3% of all nights in Croatia which is pretty impressive!