Zagreb, the Croatian capital is an ever more popular destination for tourists, whose visits are increasing by double-digit percentages from month to month. In the first half of the year the city was visited by over 260,000 visitors for about 500,000 overnight stays, up in arrivals by 15 percent from the same period last year, and by 14 percent in overnight stays. Along with our traditional guests from Germany and Italy, Zagreb has also become a popular destination for tourists coming from the USA, France, Japan, Russia and Great Britain. To the sharp rise internationally in interest for trips to cities (city break), Zagreb has answered with an intensive development of its offer adapted to this segment of consumers. Already known for the quality of its hotel offer and hospitality services, the Croatian capital is developing new kinds of welcomes for its guests.
The traditional ways of touring the city have seen a new additional of late as they have in other tourism capitals across the world – the Segway City Tour. With these ever more popular vehicles it is possible to organize sightseeing of the city in three different packages: the Zagreb Welcome Tour which includes a tour of some 20 locations in the wider city core, the Zagreb All Around Tour – a wider sightseeing, and the Zagreb Leisure Tour for those interested in seeing more distant locations by appointment – a tour of Maksimir Park, the Jarun Sports & Recreation centre and the like. These are all, of course, tours with guides and preceded by a short Segway training course.
Along with the main tourist information centre on the city’s central square (Trg bana Josipa Jelacica), a seasonal information point has been opened (up to the end of September) at the central rail station. Visitors to Zagreb will also meet walking tourist information staff on the city’s squares and streets to help them find their way around and other information like on where to get a bite to eat, what to see … The walking information staff are recognizable by their distinct blue outfit bearing a large letter “Iâ€. They speak English, German, Italian, French and Spanish, and also Portuguese, Dutch and even Hebrew.
They travel around the city in pairs, moving along four predefined routes in the wider city core and always carry the appropriate promotional materials. Zagreb is also, for the eighth year running, offering its guests a one-day and three-day Zagreb Card. Purchasing the card provides privileges and savings for various services from 10 do even as high as 50 percent. Besides free use of the municipal public transport, the discounts are also good at almost all of the museums, theatres, concert halls, hotels, restaurants, shops and various services in the city. Also on the list are those offering sports, medicine, vehicle repair services and car rentals. The card, available at over 40 locations in the city and in on-line sales, also provides discounts when paying for various events in the city and may also be used in the wider Zagreb metropolitan area. In order to provide guests and business partners as much information as possible on its points of interest the City of Zagreb Tourist Board recently – as the first to do so in Croatia – printed a practical Zagreb City Break edition.
Source: Croatian Tourist Board
