Croatia: increasing visitors in 2023

Croatia is hoping to become part of the European Union’s borderless Schengen Zone on 1 January 2023, and as a result is looking forward to an increase in the number of people visiting the country.

Croatia has met all the needed requirements to become part of the Schengen zone, and is ready to provide further clarification on this to all who want it so the country can join Schengen in 2023.

A committee of the European Parliament is expected to give a positive opinion in this regard in the coming weeks, after assessing the country’s readiness for criteria such as protecting Croatia’s border.

This does not immediately equate to more medical travellers however.

At the Croatian international medical tourism conference (CIHT 2022) held in Crikvenica last month, global branding expert, Ilan Geva, stressed the importance of building an overarching medical tourism promotion plan. Croatia has 250 different local tourism brands, but he argues the country needs a cohesive medical tourism brand.

Croatia, like many other destinations, has medical professionals who believe that if they are good doctors for the domestic population, they can be successful in attracting global clientele.  This is not necessarily the reality.