Overnight tourist arrivals in Dubrovnik, Croatia, increased at a fast pace throughout the 2010s, surpassing *** million in 2019. The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), however, brought a halt to this trend, reducing tourism in the city to just *********visitors in 2020 before figures began to increase again, standing at *** million visitors in 2023. These figures do not include the large number of excursionists and cruise passengers who typically enter the city during the peak season. Coping with Dubrovnik’s popularity For many years, the city of Dubrovnik has been a leading destination in the Mediterranean. As in many of Europe’s most prominent tourist cities, however, increasing visitor numbers led to problems with overtourism, to the point that UNESCO warned that Dubrovnik’s world heritage status was at risk. To cope with the limited capacity and resources, the city launched plans in 2017 to make tourism more sustainable, including limiting the number of cruise ships calling at the port and the number of visitors entering the city. Tourism across Croatia As in Dubrovnik, there was a growing number of international tourist arrivals throughout Croatia before the pandemic hit. The country has various coastal cities on the Adriatic Sea that are also popular tourist destinations. The Dalmatia region, where Dubrovnik is based, covers much of the coastline of Croatia and includes the city of Split. The Istrian peninsula in the north, where the city of Pula is based, is also popular. According to Croatia’s national tourist board, the capital Zagreb was the most visited city in Croatia.

A recent comprehensive genomic analysis based on 50K SNP profiles has shown that the regional Balkan sheep populations have considerable genetic overlap but are distinctly different from surrounding breeds. All eight Croatian sheep breeds were represented by a small number of individuals per breed. Here, we genotyped 220 individuals representing the native Croatian sheep breeds (Istrian Sheep, Krk Island Sheep, Cres Island Sheep, Rab Island Sheep, Lika Pramenka, Pag Island Sheep, Dalmatian Pramenka, Dubrovnik Sheep) and mouflon using the Ovine Infinium® HD SNP BeadChip (606,006 SNPs). In addition, we included publicly available Balkan Pramenka and other Mediterranean sheep breeds. Our analyses revealed the complex population structure of Croatian sheep breeds and their origin and geographic barriers (island versus mainland). Migration patterns confirmed the historical establishment of breeds and the pathways of gene flow. Inbreeding coefficients (FROH>2 Mb) between sheep populations ranged from 0.025 to 0.070, with lower inbreeding coefficients observed in Dalmatian Pramenka and Pag Island Sheep and higher inbreeding in Dubrovnik sheep. The estimated effective population size ranged from 61 to 1039 for Krk Island Sheep and Dalmatian Pramenka, respectively. Higher inbreeding levels and lower effective population size indicate the need for improved conservation management to maintain genetic diversity in some breeds. Our results will contribute to breeding and conservation strategies of native Croatian sheep breeds.

The international tourist departures in Croatia were forecast to increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 0.4 million departures (+13.79 percent). This overall increase does not happen continuously, notably not in 2028 and 2029. The number of depatures are estimated to amount to 3.3 million departures in 2029. According to Worldbank, international tourist departures can be defined as departures from the country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than work. The forecast has been adjusted for the expected impact of COVID-19.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the international tourist departures in countries like Romania and Cyprus.

The international tourism expenditure per capita in Croatia was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 83.2 U.S. dollars (+30.96 percent). According to this forecast, in 2029, the expenditure will have increased for the ninth consecutive year to 351.94 U.S. dollars. Covered are expenditures of international outbound visitors to other countries from the selected region, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. Domestic tourism expenditures are not included. The forecast has been adjusted for the expected impact of COVID-19.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the international tourism expenditure per capita in countries like Turkey and Bulgaria.

The international tourism receipts per capita in Croatia were forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 347.1 U.S. dollars (+19.32 percent). According to this forecast, in 2029, the receipts per capita will have increased for the ninth consecutive year to 2,144 U.S. dollars. Receipts denote expenditures by inbound tourists from other countries. Domestic tourism expenditures are not included. The forecast has been adjusted for the expected impact of COVID-19. The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the international tourism receipts per capita in countries like Serbia and Albania.