Last year, Herzegovina-Neretva County (HNŽ) recorded a significant recovery of tourism after two pandemic years. The number of tourists in the first nine months was 60 percent higher than in the same period a year earlier, the number of overnight stays increased by 57 percent, and the landlords are also satisfied with the successful season.
The Tourist Board of HNŽ still does not have data on tourist indicators for the entire year 2020, and according to the information of the Federal Institute of Statistics, a total of 166,129 tourists stayed in HNŽ in the period from January to September 2022, who made 403,614 overnight stays.
However, the number of tourists for the period from January to September 2022 is 63 percent of the record number of tourists for the same period in 2019, and the number of overnight stays for the same period is 79 percent of the number of tourists in 2019, which shows that we had a significant recovery of tourism after two pandemic years - said Ramiz Bašić from the Tourist Board of HNŽ in an interview for Fena.
He added that foreign guests in HNŽ spent 247,908 overnight stays in the first nine months of 2022, which is 233 percent more than in 2021 for the same period. At the same time, he noted that this is 58 percent of the overnight stays of foreign tourists in the record, pre-pandemic year of 2019.
HNŽ was mostly visited by tourists from the countries of the region (Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia), followed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and EU countries (Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary). Asked about the realized income from tourism last year, Bašić said that they do not have this data. The Tourist Board of HNŽ does not have data on the income of our accommodation and catering establishments, but we are sure that the owners of these establishments are much more satisfied after a successful season than they were the previous two years. The realized revenues are certainly higher due to the increase in the prices of tourist services as a result of the strong "liberated" tourist demand after two years of pandemic stagnation, as well as inflation and the rise of all prices and costs, especially energy products - Bašić assesses.

New Year holidays and Advent in Mostar
When it comes to New Year's holidays and the Advent event in Mostar, he notes that the accommodation capacity in Mostar was about 85 percent full on those days.

The organization of New Year's Eve 2023 in the open air in Mostar, the good weather as well as the wealth of cultural content at the Advent event, certainly contributed to the fact that during the New Year holidays we have a significant number of domestic tourists as well as visitors from the countries of the region (Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro). as well as from other countries, so that the accommodation capacities in Mostar in those days were about 85 percent full - says Bašić.

In 2023, continued growth
In 2023, the financial and physical indicators of tourism are expected to continue to grow, which is supported by good early announcements from foreign markets, which apply to the entire region.We hope, considering last year's successful season, that in 2023 we will also have an increase in the number of arrivals and overnight stays of tourists, especially foreign ones. This percentage increase will be in double digits, at least 10 percent - emphasizes Bašić and adds that this year and the following years, Croatia's entry into the Schengen area and the Eurozone will be a plus for tourist movements not only in Croatia but also in BiH because, he says, "we become even more accessible and more open to the most important emission markets, European, especially road routes".