1 
                                 
Comparative analysis  
of tourism indicators for Croatia and 
selected competitive countries  
Maja Buljat* 
Abstract: An increasing number of countries are investing in the 
development of tourism, thus becoming a key driver of 
socioeconomic development. The effects of tourism are realized 
through foreign exchange revenues, job creation, and the 
development of local and national infrastructure. As an 
international trade service, inbound tourism has become one of 
the world's major trade categories.  Tourism in Croatia is 
considered an important investment driver and a generator of 
growth in the national economy.  Addressing and development on 
a competitive basis are determined by the unfavorable 
macroeconomic environment and business climate in the country. 
Today's business world is characterized by accelerated 
development and competitiveness of companies that must 
stimulate profitable development, measure value creation, and 
continuously learn from success because only such companies can 
succeed.  The aim of the paper is to show the position of Croatian 
tourism in relation to competitive countries, to confirm the 
hypothesis that Croatia is a strong competitive country. 
Keywords: tourism, competitiveness, economic effects, 
economy 
JEL classification: EO, E1, E2 
 
Primerjalna analiza  
turističnih kazalnikov za Hrvaško 
 in izbrane konkurenčne države 
 
Povzetek: Vse več držav vlaga v razvoj turizma, ki tako 
postaja ključno gibalo družbenoekonomskega razvoja. Učinki 
turizma se uresničujejo skozi devizne prihodke, ustvarjanje 
delovnih mest ter razvoj lokalne in nacionalne infrastrukture. 
Kot mednarodna trgovinska storitev, je vhodni turizem postal 
ena glavnih trgovinskih kategorij na svetu. Turizem na 
Hrvaškem velja za pomemben dejavnik naložb ter predstavlja 
generator rasti nacionalnega gospodarstva. Neugodno 
makroekonomsko okolje in poslovna klima v državi določata 
naslavljanje in razvoj na konkurenčni osnovi. Današnji poslovni 
svet zaznamujeta pospešen razvoj in konkurenčnost podjetij, 
ki morajo spodbujati profitabilen razvoj, meriti ustvarjanje 
vrednosti in se nenehno učiti iz uspeha, saj le takšna podjetja 
lahko uspejo. Cilj prispevka je prikazati gospodarske učinke 
turizma in položaj hrvaškega turizma glede na konkurenčne 
države, ter potrditi hipotezo, da je Hrvaška močna 
konkurenčna država. 
Ključne besede: turizem, konkurenčnost, gospodarski učinki, 
gospodarstv 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*University of Applied Sciences, 
Zapresic Croatia, 
 mbuljat@bak.hr 
  
©Copyrights are protected by = 
Avtorske pravice so zaščitene s: 
Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial 4.0 International 
License (CC BY-NC 4.0) = Priznanje 
avtorstva-nekomercialno 4.0 
mednarodna licenca (CC BY-NC 4.0) 
DOI 10.32015/JIBM.2022.14.2.8  
 
Mednarodno inovativno poslovanje =  
Journal of Innovative Business and 
Management  
 
 
ISSN 1855-6175 
 
 
 

 
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Mednarodno inovativno poslovanje = Journal of Innovative Business and Management 2022 / Vol. 14 / No. 2  
Introduction  
 
Tourists of today are more experienced and demanding, so the tourist market with its 
dynamics makes supply and demand condition each other and change accordingly. On the 
one hand, supply tracks changes in demand preferences; while on the other hand, demand 
is growing expectations and it is increasingly difficult to meet. 
 
Tourism of the new age requires a unique and recognizable tourist product; constant 
improvement of the tourist offer and at the same time preservation of indigenous 
elements. That is why there is a sharpening of relations between competing countries to 
win the market position, so it is necessary to continuously analyze and monitor the 
indicators of competitiveness of tourist destinations. The level of development of the 
destination is defined by determinants such as infrastructural development, regulatory and 
legal frameworks, the number and quality of accommodation capacities, the diversity and 
quality of the catering offer, natural and cultural heritage, personnel potentials measured 
by productivity, i.e., the ability of the destination to produce goods and services using its 
labor force, resources, and investments 
 
The state is involved in the development of an area that without tourism might not have 
developed at the same intensity or at the same speed. Integrating entrepreneurial ideas 
in these areas creates the basis for creating greater economic impacts. At the same time, 
the resources underlying tourism development remain owned and managed by the local 
community, thus ensuring its impact on the quality of the tourism product. From the point 
of view of economic entities in tourism, it is necessary first to find a way that will ensure 
their long-term survival in the market. Their competitiveness depends on innovation in 
achieving lower costs and higher quality effects that will satisfy potential customers, but 
also on their ability to create new products (Sundbo, Orfila-Sintes and Srrensen, 2007).  
 
The competitiveness of a tourist destination is defined as the ability of a destination to 
increase tourist spending and attract more tourists by providing them with an 
unforgettable experience, and is also profitable and brings benefits to future generations 
(Bartoluci, 2013). 
 
 
1. THEORETICAL RESEARCH FRAMEWORK 
 
Competitiveness presumes different desired outcomes according to various researchers. 
Based on Scott and Lodge (1985), competitiveness means producing a more significant 
return from the application of available resources. On the other hand, the World Economic 
Forum, W. (2003) suggested that competitiveness should lead to higher income growth. 
Further, Fagerberg (1988) argued that employment would be enhanced through 
competitiveness, in which the author relates competitiveness with a better quality of life. 
Nevertheless, even with the prominent characteristics and outcomes of competitiveness, 
researchers failed to describe what specific factors or determinants that lead to 
competitiveness (Kozak and Baloglu, 2010; Ritchie and Crouch, 2010). Despite its 
popularity, majority of the literatures available strives to adapt with the imprecision of 
the concept, as it provides a reflection of multiplicity of meanings and also applicability. 
Porter (2008) defined organisational competitiveness as productivity expansion. 
Meanwhile, Feurer and Chaharbaghi (1994) referred to competitiveness as an 
organisation’s or nation’s capability to maintain a competitive position by exceeding the 
stakeholder’s expectations and eliminating any threats. 
 

 
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The competitiveness of the destination also depends on the ability to increase tourist 
revenues through attracting visitors, increasing profitability, but also ensuring the quality 
of life of the local population, and preserving the environment. According to Hendia 
(2007), competitiveness in the broadest sense of the word can be defined as the ability to 
stay in the market for the long term. 
 
Blažević and Peršić state that in modern tourism it is necessary to build a model of 
competitiveness based on elements that ensure the achievement of competitive 
advantages for better positioning of tourist destinations. The authors see the solution in 
creating their own image because only one who is recognizably different from others can 
be interested in the flood of the same kind of offer (Blažević and Peršić). 
 
Kunst (2012) believes that the competitiveness of a tourist destination could be reduced 
to the issue of consumption per unit of capacity, with those destinations that achieve 
higher consumption per unit of capacity more competitive. 
 
Vlahov (2014) believes that in the situation of the increasingly present process of 
consolidation of hotel groups, small hotels must cooperate together in order to achieve a 
better competitive position on the market and thus raise the level of tourism 
competitiveness of Croatia. 
 
The research on visitors' attitudes toward the competitiveness of Croatian tourism in the 
period from 2004 to 2014 was conducted by scientists of the Institute for Tourism in Zagreb 
(Marušić, Čorak and Sever, 2015) as part of the TOMAS project. There was an increase in 
the competitive strength of Croatian tourism, with Spain, Greece, Italy, and Turkey being 
seen as competing countries. The results of the survey have shown that visitors consider 
shopping opportunities in Croatia worse than in other destinations, but at the same time, 
they get more value for money. 
 
Žmuk and Morović (2015) analyzed trends in tourism of the European Union using selected 
indicators of tourist demand. Using statistical forecast ingestion methods and models, they 
showed that in most of the observed countries, there is a trend of increasing the ratio of 
foreign and domestic tourists, but also a decrease in the ratio of the number of overnight 
stays and the number of tourist arrivals. The authors also found that a significant number 
of European Union countries differ slightly in terms of the values of tourism indicators. In 
this, they see an opportunity for Croatia, which could significantly improve the values of 
its tourism indicators from other countries through planned differentiation. 
 
 
2. DATA AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 
 
The dataset consists of annual time series of data from 2002 to 2019 in order to make a 
comparative analysis of tourism indicators for Croatia and selected competing countries.  
The tourist indicators used in the analysis are:  
➢ The direct contribution of tourism to GDP (absolute amount)  
➢ Share of tourism in GDP (in % of GDP) 
➢ Revenues from international tourism  
➢ Income from international tourism per capita  
➢ Number of international tourist arrivals  
 
Competing tourist countries whose data were used for comparative analysis are France, 
Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain. The paper uses the abbreviations ISO Alpha-
2: Croatia (HR), France (FR), Greece (GR), Italy (IT), Portugal (ES), Slovenia (SI), and Spain 

 
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Mednarodno inovativno poslovanje = Journal of Innovative Business and Management 2022 / Vol. 14 / No. 2  
(ES). The data for the required analysis was collected from statistical databases available 
on the official website of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). The method of 
comparative analysis of selected indicators of tourism business in Croatia and competing 
countries was used to test competitiveness. The obtained data were then systematized, 
statistically processed, and shown in graphs. For the ranking of Croatia in relation to 
selected competitors, complex annual growth rates (CAGR) were calculated.  
 
 
3. RESULTS OF COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SELECTED TOURIST INDICATORS  
 
Chart 1. The direct contribution of tourism to GDP for Croatia and selected competing countries 
from 2002 to 2019 (in billion. USD) 
 
Source: Created by the author – based on: WTTC (2022) 
 
During the analyzed period (2002-2019), Italy had the highest average contribution of 
tourism to GDP (USD 94.92 billion), while Slovenia had the lowest average contribution to 
GDP (USD 1.53 billion). In 2019, the direct contribution of Croatian tourism to GDP 
amounted to USD 6.5 billion, an increase of 101.86% compared to 2002. In the total 
contribution of tourism to the GDP of all observed countries, Croatia achieved a share of 
1.24% in 2002 or 1.99% in 2019. During the analyzed period (2002-2019) Croatia achieves 
the second highest interannual average growth rate of tourism contribution to GDP (4.22%), 
after Portugal (5.76%). The lowest interannual average growth rate was recorded by France 
(0.58%), followed by Italy (1.06%), Greece (1.48%), Slovenia (1.68%), and Spain (1.98%). 
 
Given that countries of different sizes are analyzed, it is necessary to show the relative 
share of tourism in GDP to obtain the right share of the contribution of tourism to GDP 
(Chart 2.) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2002. 2006. 2010. 2014. 2018. 2019.
HR FR GR IT PT SI ES

 
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Chart 2. Share of tourism in GDP for Croatia and selected competing countries in the period from 
2002 to 2019 (in % of GDP) 
 
 
Source: Created by the author – based on: WTTC (2022) 
 
In the observed period (2002–2019) Croatia can stand out as the country with the highest 
average share of tourism in GDP (22.34%), while France has the lowest average share 
(9.57%). In 2019, Croatia recorded a share of tourism in GDP of 25.13%, an increase of 
56.39% compared to 2002. Among the countries under review, Croatia and Portugal had 
the same average annual growth rate (0.03%), Greece (0.01%), Italy, Slovenia and Spain 
had relatively low average annual growth rates that ranged around 0%, while France was 
the only country with a negative annual growth rate (-0.01%). 
 
Chart 3. Revenues from international tourism for Croatia and selected competing countries in the 
period from 2002 to 2019 (in billion) USD) 
 
Note: Data for Spain not available in 2019 
Source: Created by the author – based on: WTTC (2022) 
 
During the analyzed period (2002–2019) France had the highest average tourism revenue (USD 66.4 
billion), while Slovenia had the lowest (USD 2.64 billion). Croatia generated USD 11.9 billion in 
2019, which represents a 203.04% growth in tourism revenues compared to 2002. In total revenues 
from international tourism compared to the observed competing countries, Croatia achieved a share 
of 3.95% in 2002 or 4.27% in 2018. Data from the observed period showed that Croatia achieved an 
5
10
15
20
25
30
2002. 2006. 2010. 2014. 2018. 2019.
HR FR GR IT PT SI ES
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2002. 2006. 2010. 2014. 2018. 2019.
HR FR GR IT PT SI ES

 
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Mednarodno inovativno poslovanje = Journal of Innovative Business and Management 2022 / Vol. 14 / No. 2  
average annual growth rate of international tourism revenues of 6.74%. Among selected countries, 
Portugal has the highest average annual growth rate (8.01%), followed by Slovenia (6.49%), Spain 
(5.57%), Greece (5.02%), Italy (3.65%), and France with the lowest annual rate (3.25%). 
 
 
Chart 4.  Income from international tourism per capita for Croatia and selected competing countries 
in the period from 2002 to 2019 (in USD) 
 
Note: Data on revenues from international tourism for Spain is not available in 2019 
Source: Created by the author – based on: WTTC (2022) 
 
Based on data on revenues from international tourism per capita, Croatia can stand out as 
the country with the highest average income ($2,145.82) during the analyzed period (2002–
2019). In 2019, per capita income was $2,944.47, an increase of 220.70% from 2002. 
Portugal (8.09%), followed by Croatia (7.10%), Slovenia (6.20%), Greece (5.12%), Italy 
(3.37%), and France (2.74%), had the highest average annual growth rate per capita. Data 
for Spain were not available in 2019, but the country also recorded a positive average 
annual growth rate (4.77%) from the beginning of the period under review until 2018. 
 
Chart 5. Number of international tourist arrivals to Croatia and selected competing countries in the 
period from 2002 to 2019. 
 
 
Note: For individual countries, data are not available for all observed years 
Source: Created by the author – based on: WTTC (2022) 
0,00
500,00
1000,00
1500,00
2000,00
2500,00
3000,00
3500,00
2002. 2006. 2010. 2014. 2018. 2019.
HR FR GR IT PT SI ES
0
50.000.000
100.000.000
150.000.000
200.000.000
250.000.000
2002. 2006. 2010. 2014. 2018. 2019.
HR FR GR IT PT SI ES

 
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According to the number of arrivals in the analyzed period (2002–2019), it is worth noting 
France, averaged the highest number of arrivals (204,036,400), while the lowest average 
number of international tourist arrivals was achieved by Slovenia (2,795,000). Through 
each observed period, Croatia recorded an increase in the number of arrivals, and in 2019 
it achieved an increase of 43.8% compared to 2002. In 2019, Croatia achieved a share of 
10.81% in the total number of arrivals of all observed countries. Among selected countries, 
Slovenia has the highest average annual growth rate (7.85%), followed by Greece (4.97%), 
Spain (2.77%), Italy (2.42%), Portugal (2.35%) and Croatia (2.16%). No data have been 
available for France since 2002, but if we take the first next available year (2006), the 
country also achieved an average annual growth rate of 1%. 
 
Conclusions 
 
In economic terms, a tourist is both a consumer of goods and a recipient of services. Part 
of its expenditure goes directly to economic units related to tourism (housing, food, 
transport, etc.), the second part goes to local budgets or the state budget in the form of 
fees, taxes, and so on, and the third part goes to other sectors of the economy to pay for 
the products delivered and services provided for the needs of tourism activities. As a 
result, tourism can contribute to the economic development of both the local community 
and the country's economy by generating revenues from domestic and international 
visitors. In addition to direct effects on economic and social systems, tourism has several 
positive indirect and induced effects on other sectors of the economy. 
 
A comparative analysis of selected tourism indicators shows that Croatia can stand out as 
a strong tourist country in relation to selected competitors. According to data on the direct 
contribution of tourism to GDP, in 2002 Croatia was slightly worse than Greece and took 
second place, while in the last year, it took first place in the ranking (25.13%). Although 
this indicates an excellent ranking of Croatia by this indicator, it is worth pointing to the 
challenge in terms of the large exposure of the Croatian economy to tourism. Data on 
revenues from international tourism per capita show the same results as the previous 
indicator. In 2002, Greece was 0.04 USD better than Croatia. In 2019, Croatia generated 
$2,944.47 in per capita income and achieved the best results of the observed countries. 
The number of international tourists in Croatia in 2002 was higher than Greece, Portugal, 
and Italy, but in 2019, France also had data on this indicator, which was significantly better 
than Croatia, so Croatia took fourth place in the ranking.Based on the obtained results, it 
can be concluded that Croatia as a country is highly dependent on tourism, however, based 
on the selected tourism indicators in relation to the competitors that were the subject of 
the analysis, Croatia stands out as an average competitive country. 
 
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