Even though there will always be a nice crowd of wining grumblers in Splitto whom the river of tourists buzzing down the streets and beaches get on their nerves starting from Easter, most of the inhabitants of Split are thrilled by the fact that their old, and until recently transit port city, has become a tourist mecca.
They welcomed the Split Tourist Renaissance with approval, firstly because the invasion of tourists enabled many to get at least a summer job and to turn their homes into apartments for rent, and also for the reason that something is continually going on in the city, everything is merry and lively, the house lots arranged, tens of new restaurants, taverns, coffee shops, hotels opened, concerts, film festivals organized, and it is not boring any more.
Since foreigners like us so much, and they come from all sides of the world, we must be worth something – commented recently a granny from the Split bazaar, thrilled by the fact that young Frenchmen had bought all the peaches on her stall. In brief, many people have direct profit from tourists and are ready to suffer the crowds in the city, the traffic jams, lack of parking places and some noisy entertainments.…
People are aware that it is not possible to have one’s peace in a city that is at the same time full of tourists, but the city is functioning well regardless of the recent manifold increase in the number of people in Split, particularly in the old town nucleus, many times higher than in the winter months. Thereby, besides the tourist and communal workers, praise should be given also to the shop assistants who have adapted their working hours and work until midnight, and what luck if their example was to be followed by the other services, particularly the post offices and banks. But the rent-a car agencies, tourist bureaus, taxis, laundries, agencies, bakeries… work from morning till night, and all to offer to the tourists as much as possible of their products and services. The tourists are, of course, satisfied with the fact that everything is available at any hour, and since the structure of the guests is mainly from Western Europe, the prices are also acceptable.
– Split is a destination that, due to its unique charm and rich offer, has become an unavoidable point on the world tourist map. The realized results of the tourist flow of over one million overnights in the previous year best confirms this fact – tells us AlijanaVukšić, director of Split Tourist Board, whose employees are at daily disposal for any information tourists may need and also for support to all tourist workers.
Destination promotion
Excellent taverns, wine bars adapted to all the needs of the modern tourist have made Split a competitive destination of gastronomic delight –AlijanaVukšić emphasizes, reminding that a significant role in the tourist increase in Split has been played by the change in the cooperation plan with the private sector, local authorities, Ministry of Tourism, Croatian Tourist Board and its representatives. There is also an excellent cooperation withthe county Tourist Board and the neighbouring tourist offices.
Being aware of the fact that there has been a rapid growth in domestic accommodation which prevails in the total accommodation structure, efforts have been made in the organization of numerous trainings for private renters and foreign language courses contributing to the increase in tourist services.
Unfortunately, the main problem in Split tourism still remains in the seasonal offer for already at the end of September numerous apartments are empty. The Tourist Board is trying to improve this by promoting destinations in the pre-season and post-season. The first step was to be included in the Croatia 365 project which promotes destinations throughout the year by offering rich contents, whereby study tours are organized for foreign reporters and agents in the period of the “dead season”, and the Tourist Board is supporting financially manifestations that are organized during that period which, fortunately, is becoming shorter.
