Croatia focusses on MICE groups in 2015
As the latest entrant in the Asian market, Croatia is advancing strategically. It may be a newbie in India but along with Udaan India it has its game plan ready with ‘Namaste Croatia’ as its first move. In the offing is a roadshow and familiarisation trip
In India to promote Croatia among the travel trade, HE Amir Muharemi, Ambassador of Croatia, Embassy of Croatia in India, has big plans. His aim is to bring the destination closer to Indians. “Croatia receives almost 12 million tourists from for Croatian visas, having processed over 1,000 visas daily on an average across India in 2014.
The main focus areas for 2015 are MICE and organised groups but also leisure groups. “Croatia is so beautiful and diverse and once Indians discover it, we will observe what creates the biggest interest among them – what they like and enjoy the most. We have so many things that we know Indians will adore, like very good climate, good food, warm hospitable people and it is very clean and safe. I’m very confident that we will get excellent response from India,” the Ambassador said.
Dua added, “Croatia is an ideal destination for MICE, FITs, destination weddings as well as film shoots. He also added that July and August are the high seasons while anytime from April to September can be considered for visiting the country.”
While Croatia has observed almost negligible Indian tourists so far with less than 1,000 visitors in 2014 that included business travellers and family holidays, the recent appointment of the ambassador in September 2014 will speed up better facilitation for Indian travellers. Croatia is also in the process of issuing Schengen visas in the next six months.
“We are now at the very beginning. So far we received Indian tourists who were part of groups going somewhere else. They were not targeting Croatia. But slowly we are opening Croatia to tourists as a final destination and we are now creating itineraries specially for Indian tourists,” Muharemi said. Agents will soon see roadshows and familiarisation trips being organised in association with the Croatian tourism board.