Emirates' recently launched service between Dubai and Zagreb has generated strong interest on the Indian travel market, in line with targets set out by both the airline and the Croatian Ministry for Tourism to produce more passengers from the Indian subcontinent to Croatia. Emirates' Vice President for India and Nepal, Essa Ahmed, said, "Interest among Indians for our service to Zagreb has been very strong. Tourism motivated by TV or movies has really exploded in India in recent years. Filming locations in Dubrovnik featured in popular TV series like "Game of Thrones", has seen a huge jump in tourist interest over the last two years. These shows are inspiring the new breed of travellers to capture the striking landscapes that they view on shows on a daily basis and become a part of the fantasy tale that they love".
Over 70% of all traffic between Croatia and India used to be handled by Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, however Emirates' arrival in Zagreb this June has created significant competition for the two. Furthermore, the carrier's interline agreement with Croatia Airlines, which enables travellers to reach holiday hotspots such as Pula, Dubrovnik and Split with a single ticket and baggage through-checked to the final local airport, has further lured Indian travellers to Emirates. Air India itself has recognised the growing travel demand between India and Croatia and recently concluded a codeshare agreement with its Star Alliance partner Croatia Airlines. As part of the deal, the Croatian carrier has placed its "OU" designator code and flight numbers onto Air India's services from Mumbai to London and from New Delhi to Frankfurt, London, Vienna, Rome and Paris. In return, the Indian national carrier has placed its code and flight numbers onto Croatia Airlines' services from Split, Dubrovnik and Zagreb to Frankfurt, London, Vienna, Rome and Paris.
Croatia has identified India as a high-potential long-distance market. In 2016, 35.057 Indian nationals visited Croatia, an increase of 77% on the year before, while numbers have grown significantly so far in 2017. "Long distance markets are very important for the Croatian tourism sector because those tourists like to travel outside of the peak season. During the first six months of this year we have recorded 27.514 arrivals (growth of 85%) and 61.135 overnight stays (growth of 75%) from India. India is definitely a high-potential long-distance market for Croatian tourism in the future", Lucijana Natalija Jerković from the Croatian National Tourist Board said. The Croatian Minister for Tourism, Gari Cappelli, recently noted that the country is looking at securing flights from far-away markets in the coming period. Mr Cappelli, noted, "The Ministry's strategic goal is to develop Croatia as a destination which is accessible to various airlines, particularly before and after the height of the summer season. We are directing a part of our funds towards closer cooperation with carriers, which will result in more flights to all of our airports. We are turning towards the Far East and the Middle East".
Comments
That is serious capacity.
The same thing happened with China flights to Croatia. They changed their minds as soon as Serbia introduced visa free travel for Chinese citizens
That is the major question.
Why not take another airline altogether if EK's direct flights are full or expensive?
Anything anyone says on this forum will simply be expressing their biases ..
Very well, 85-90% load factor to Zagreb and 80-85% Zagreb - Dubai.
Above any expectations.
As to number of Indian visitors to Croatia this year, so far this year 43000 have visited Croatia, 65000 expected this year. Same time last year 24000 Indian visitors...
Number if Chinese, Indian, Thy, Malaysian, Indonesian, Korean and Japanese visitors is up dramatically, between 20 and 45%.
So far 13.4 million foreign visitors visited Croatia. Projections for this year, 15.7 million foreign, and 1.8 million domestic visitors. Emirates helps no question about it. Qatar does too. We'll see how 2018 shapes up, but if early indications are anything to go by, Croatia could see 20 million visitors, 18.2 million foreign.
Arrogance and ignorance, what a great combo.
EK # 1
AF # 2
LH # 3
I've been flying on EK since 1996 and they have really changed since then. About 15 years ago they represented something new on the market, something fresh.
Today the only thing they have going on for them is the entertainment system. Their premium product is tacky and nothing special. Their A332s which were recently retired were absolutely horrible to fly on, especially those retro pinkish seats.
And the crew attitude is way ahead of any European airline, not to mention American airlines, which are a disaster in that regard.
Qatar is a different story, we'll have to see if they keep this up as they continue to grow.
As for American airlines, I think we can all agree on that.
Can you sound any more ignorant? We took what exactly? Croatia, just like Serbia was under influence of many empires and that reflects todays' history.
Get off your high horse.
In terms of European airlines I was talking purely about air crew attitude. QR is better without a doubt, but even on EK flights I was always treated as a "king". They jist seem way more pleasant and communicative to me.