February 6 (SeeNews) - Tourist arrivals to Croatia increased by 8.7% in 2016, while the number of overnights rose by 9.0%, reaching to 78,049,852, the national statistical office said on Monday.
Of the total number of 2016 tourist overnights, 92.5% was spent by foreigners, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics said in a monthly report.
In 2016, the number of domestic tourist overnights increased by 2.0% and the number of foreign tourist overnights rose by 9.6%, as compared to 2015.
In December alone, foreign tourist arrivals to Croatia rose 29.2% on the year, reaching 173,851, with overnights increased 30.4% to 379,506.
Foreign tourists accounted for 63.9% of all overnight stays in December.
Tourism is a key industry for Croatia, which generates around a fifth of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
The number of domestics tourists increased 18.6% on the year to 112,166 in December, taking the total number of tourists to 286,017, up 24.8% year-on-year.
The number of overnights spent by Croatian citizens rose 17.5% on the year to 214,741 in December, taking the total number of tourist overnights to 594,247, an increase of 25.4% year-on-year.
Croatia's biggest feeder markets in December were Austria with a share of 15.2%, Italy with 13.9% and Slovenia with 12.9%
In December, the highest number of overnights, 379 967 or 63.9%, were spent in hotels.