Croatia's tourism hits capacity limits as PM Plenković warns on pricing and touts defence partnership

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković told a government meeting that Croatia’s tourist arrivals and overnight stays for the first half of 2026 have reached the usual ceiling of roughly 22 million visitors and 110 million nights. The country welcomed 7.6 million tourists who recorded 29.5 million overnight stays, placing Croatia fourth in Europe for total nights and showing growth in air, road and sea traffic.

Plenković stressed that future growth will depend less on attracting more visitors and more on maintaining competitive and reasonable price policies for accommodation and services. He also highlighted the strong demand for the latest issue of 2031 government bonds, which attracted €1.5 billion of institutional investment. In addition, he congratulated defence‑technology firm DOK‑ING on its new partnership with Germany’s Rheinmetall to develop autonomous, unmanned ground vehicles, calling it a significant boost for the Croatian defence industry.