The Croatian tourist sector has continued to record negative trends this year despite comparatively good indicators, the Tourism Business Council of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce said at a meeting on Wednesday.
The negative trends ranged from poor profitability and lower investment to a decline of tourist consumption, especially in restaurants, to the inadequate and uncompetitive VAT rate, which all makes the preparation of the sector for 2011 more difficult.
Council chairman Franco Palma, who also represented the national association of employers in the hotel industry, said that without major new investments Croatian tourism would become less competitive in relation to other European countries.
He said that despite the increase in the number of tourists this year, the profitability of the sector, especially of the hotels, remained very low because of high business costs and taxes, so there was no room for investment.
Palma called for urgent improvement of laws to relieve businesses of taxes and attract investment.
The Association of Restaurant Owners (URH) said that the hotel and restaurant sector recorded a fall in turnover of 70 per cent in continental Croatia, 60 per cent in Zagreb, 45-50 per cent in the northern Adriatic and 35 per cent in Dalmatia. Only Dubrovnik and Hvar recorded a positive balance.
