Thursday, March 12, 2020
As Poslovni Dnevnik inscribes on the 11th of March, 2020, as two-thirds (66 percent) of the companies in Croatia are by now feeling the negative impacts of coronavirus in their business, and more than 53 percent, have seen a decline in turnover, as per a recent poll carried on by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).
Travel agencies, those who manage accommodation, food preparation and logistics are the hardest hit and small and medium-sized businesses functioning within the tourism sector of Croatia are feeling more negatively effected than large companies, according to Glas Istre.
Therefore, the situation of coronavirus could have far-reaching negative impacts on Istrian tourism and economy, and the first being impacted are those in hospitality, hoteliers, travel agencies, and private renters. While talking with individuals from these sectors, let’s look at the reactions to the current situation with coronavirus in Istria and the forecasts.
Oliver Juric, co-owner of a travel agency: Even though they’ve paid, many aren’t coming:
Bookings have stopped. If the situation doesn’t get better, we could lose almost forty percent of traffic. Now, group arrivals aren’t being sold and even though they’ve paid, many won’t take their trips due to anxiety. We’re following everything with immense care and we’re expecting that the situation will calm down. Now, the question is what the situation will be in April and May, and if the fright doesn’t diminish, we’ll lose groups during those months, and then the question is what’s next. If we pull out of this in spring, then we could save ourselves and we’ll somehow get something out of the season, but if this situation persists, it will be hard.
Our partner from Austria has called of their sales as everyone is in fear, nobody is keen to travel. The Swiss are in a terror and they’re starting to postpone travel because more cases have occurred regarding the virus. If the situation in Italy escalates, we can forget the preseason. This is the chain reaction that will impact majority of people in Croatian tourism, perhaps hospitality workers the most. If the groups don’t come, the restaurants will be empty and those working in hospitality will have nobody to serve.
Ivo Lorencin, private landlord, Medulin: The preseason won’t influence the fiscal picture
In terms of family accommodation, the speed in terms of arrival of reservations for June, July and August has dropped somewhat, as for April and May it has stopped completely.
Till now, there have been no cancellations not even for the accommodation that was by now reserved for Easter. But this trend doesn’t have to mean anything, since it’s common for early spring that most bookings are done “last minute”.
Tags: Croatia tourism
