Today, representatives of the Croatian National Tourist Board and the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board welcomed leading representatives of the Polish national airline LOT, Polish tour operators, agents, representatives of the Polish airport institution, tourist journalists, and travel bloggers, i.e., 180 representatives of the Polish tourism industry, to Split Airport. They arrived in Croatia to promote the flight on the route Warsaw - Split, and the goal is to approach further and promote the tourist offer of Split-Dalmatia County.
Kristjan Staničić, director of CNTB, and Ivana Vladović, director of TB Split-Dalmatia County, greeted the gathering with appropriate speeches. At the same time, Michał Fijoł, president of the LOT Board, and Krzysztof Moczulski, LOT spokesman, addressed the Polish side.
"Croatia has been one of the favourite tourist destinations in the Poles for many years, and our promotional activities, which we carry out independently and in cooperation with partners in the Polish market, have significantly contributed to this. Poles highly appreciate our offer and the cultural closeness and compatibility of mentality. At the same time, the improving transport accessibility of Croatian destinations contributes significantly to the positive trends due to our country's entry into Schengen due to better air connections. This is where LOT, the Polish national airline and our strategic partner that continuously works to strengthen the network of flights to Croatian airports, stands out," said director Staničić, adding that Poles come to Croatia most often motivated by the beautiful coast and nature, but also by visiting cities: diverse gastronomy and numerous cultural and historical sights.
On this occasion, a unique stay program in Split-Dalmatia County on April 19 and 20 was prepared for representatives of the Polish tourism industry. Małgorzata Kowalska, the CNTB Representative Office director in Poland, accompanied them. In preparation, they participated on the tourist boards of the cities of Split and Trogir.
"We are happy and grateful for the cooperation and long-term friendship with LOT, which recognizes Split and Dalmatia as one of the favorite destinations for guests from Poland. Namely, the Polish market is significant for Split-Dalmatia County, where we generate more than a third of the total Polish tourist traffic in Croatia. This airline is not only a link between two geographical areas but a bridge that connects two rich cultures, traditions, and travel lovers. We are proud that guests from Poland rate Split-Dalmatia County with the highest marks. I believe this line will further contribute to our connection and excellent results in the tourist year 2024," said director Vladović.
Poland represents one of the most important foreign markets for Croatian tourism, and it is included in the top five markets from which the most significant tourist traffic is generated in our country. Croatia's status also confirms this as one of the Poles' favorite foreign destinations. LOT recognized this, and it has numerous flights and operations to Croatian destinations, of which currently most flights are directed to Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik.
"We are glad to be in Croatia again, this time in Split. Our cooperation with Croatian partners is long-term since LOT has transported over 800 thousand passengers to Croatia since 2001. I'm sure that this number will grow significantly in the future", emphasized Michał Fijoł from LOT, adding that this year, LOT is operating at the airports in Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik.
During the meeting in Split Airport, tourism results from the Polish market, trends, and expectations in tourism were briefly presented. All the news was presented, as well as the flights of the Polish airline LOT to Croatian destinations in 2024.
From the Polish market, more than one million arrivals and 6.7 million overnight stays were achieved in Croatia last year, which was a continuation of the growth trend of tourist traffic from 2022, while Poles in the current part of this year in our country achieved over 22 thousand arrivals and almost 80 thousand overnight stays, which compared to the same period last year, represents a growth of 36 percent in arrivals and 28 percent in overnight stays.
