The Croatian National Tourist Board and the Slovenian Tourist Board organized a presentation of the tourist offer of Croatia and Slovenia in Tokyo, as well as a special B2B workshop, entitled "Experience Croatia, Feel Slovenia". Kristjan Staničić, Director of the Croatian National Tourist Board, and Ana Savšek, Head of the Digital Marketing Department of the Slovenian Tourist Board, presented the best of their countries' tourism and introduced Japanese agents and stakeholders of the international tourism industry to the beauties of Croatian and Slovenian destinations. The event's partner was the airline Turkish Airlines.
"Very often, we join forces with our neighbors when it comes to presenting the tourist offer in distant markets, especially when we know that guests from Japan, China or South Korea often visit several European countries during their travels. We have presented the best of Croatian tourism and I would like to thank the Slovenian Tourist Board for their trust and long-term cooperation, which strengthens the recognition and competitiveness of both destinations on a global level. Japanese people are most motivated to travel to Croatia throughout the year by authentic experiences, natural beauty, cultural and historical riches and diverse gastronomy, which we are extremely proud of. We consider this event an important step in strengthening relations with Japan and we expect it to contribute to further positive trends in tourist traffic from that distant market, especially in the pre- and post-season," said Director Staničić, adding that Japanese tourists in Croatia in the first eight months of this year achieved an increase of 5% in arrivals and 4% in overnight stays compared to the same period last year.
In addition to the Croatian National Tourist Board, representatives of nine Croatian companies, associations and organizations participated in the B2B workshop, including the Zagreb Tourist Board, the Šibenik Tourist Board, the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies (UHPA), the Krka National Park Public Institution, Tumlare Corporation Croatia, Travemo Club, Uniline, Fortuna Travel and the Croatian Premium Selection. The event was also attended bythe Croatian Ambassador to Japan, Dražen Hrastić.
In the period from January to July, Slovenia recorded almost 10% more overnight stays and 19% more arrivals of Japanese tourists than in the same period last year. "Japanese tourists visit Slovenia throughout the year, most intensively from May to October, which confirms their interest in excellent experiences even outside the high season. Almost half of overnight stays are in Ljubljana, followed by mountain destinations with slightly less than a third. Japanese guests value authentic experiences, contact with untouched nature, high quality services and a sense of security, which Slovenia, as a green and sustainable destination, successfully combines and offers to visitors," said Ana Savšek from the Slovenian Tourist Board. She also highlighted the importance of long-standing cooperation with the CNTB and joint appearances in distant markets: "By joining forces, we can more effectively attract Asian guests, who often combine visits to several countries during one trip."
In addition to the Slovenian Tourist Board, ten participants were present from Slovenia: Ljubljana Tourism, Turizem Bled, Sava Hotels & Resorts, Ljubljana Castle, Palma Travel, Intours DMC, Ekorna Travel, Promet T&T, Happy Tours and Knmtravel Dmc. The workshop was attended by 65 Japanese agents from various companies and agencies, including JTB, G2 Travel Japan, Miki Tourist, Hankyu Travel International, Air Trip, Eurasia Travel, etc.
After the workshop and the end of the official part of the event, all participants had the opportunity for additional informal socializing, as well as to participate in a prize draw for which Turkish Airlines provided two return air tickets from Japan to Croatia.
It should be added that as part of his official visit to Tokyo, Director Staničić also met with representatives of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). The meeting was attended by Executive Vice President of the JNTO office in Frankfurt, Makiyu Deguchi, and Executive Director for the Promotion of Japan's Tourism Offer Abroad, Yoshinobu Ota. Future activities on the Japanese market and further strengthening of cooperation between the two national tourism organizations of Japan and Croatia were discussed.
