The number of tourists in Croatia halved in July

Two million tourists visited Croatia in July, almost half as many as in the same month in 2019, according to the National tourism bureau.

Tourism, which accounts for a fifth of the Croatian economy, is experiencing negative effects of COVID-19. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, industry revenues are expected to decline by 70% this year, and the country's gross domestic product as a whole is expected to lose almost 10%.

Nevertheless, the Croatian authorities consider July indicator of tourist activity a good harbinger of positive trends in August to continue.

Currently, there are about 700,000 tourists on holiday in Croatia, which has opened its borders to foreign citizens since June 30, mostly from Germany, Slovenia and Poland.

Meanwhile, new coronavirus outbreaks have appeared in Croatia. In total, this Balkan country of 4.2 million people, which has been a member of the European Union since 2013, has officially registered about 5,000 cases of COVID-19, including about 140 fatal cases.