Croatia Relies Too Much on Tourism, Economist Warns

Although Croatia is proud of its booming tourism industry, some analysts are warning that relying on one sector of the economy is potentially risky.

According to the EU statistic's agency, Eurostat, Croatia had 86.1 million overnight stays in 2017, as tourism grew by 10.6 per cent in comparison to 2016.

This was the third biggest leap in numbers in the EU, behind Latvia, with a 12-per-cent rise, and Slovenia, with 11.3 per cent growth, and well ahead of the EU average growth of 5.1 per cent.

Official figures confirm that Croatia's tourist sector accounted for 18 per cent of its GDP in 2016 - the biggest ratio in Europe, ahead of traditionally touristic-oriented countries such as Malta and Cyprus.

Report about the first nine months of 2017 - which is when over 90 per cent of all overnight stays are made in Croatia - push that figure up to 24 per cent of GDP.

Economic analyst Damir Novotny said the connection between tourism and the labour market in Croatia was "already quite high", adding that growth "depends on tourist consumption, which is vulnerable [to fluctuation]".

"One year we have great [touristic] results, the next year the weather is bad, and we have poor ones. Simply put, GDP must not depend on tourism, and this is one of the most serious obstacles to [Croatia's] future development," he told BIRN.

He also pointed out that almost all this growth is confined to coastal regions of Croatia, with little impact on continental Croatia.

"Unless all regions of Croatia develop equally, especially the eastern parts [of Slavonia], Croatia's economy will stagnate as a whole," Novotny warned.

He noted further that almost all major infrastructural projects in the coastal region are also linked with tourism, further...