Buy Croatia Workshop and Study Trip: Istria Positions Itself for Premium Chinese Guests
At the end of January 2026, an intensive program to introduce the destination to a group of Chinese travel agents was carried out in Istria, with the Buy Croatia business workshop as the central B2B part. The program was organized by the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) and the Tourist Board of Istria County with the aim of strengthening the presence of Istria, as well as Croatia as a whole, on the Chinese market – especially in the segment of guests with higher purchasing power and outside the main summer season.
According to information from the organizers, 29 Chinese agents participated in the program, and emphasis was placed on premium accommodation, gastronomy, wines, and authentic local experiences. The study part included tours of selected hotels and resorts, getting acquainted with cultural and historical heritage, and a series of experiences that are increasingly sought after on the Chinese market as “travel with a story” – from guided wine tours to the experience of truffle hunting in the interior of Istria.
Why Now: The Return of Distant Markets and the Fight for Quality
For Croatian tourism, 2025 was another strong year in terms of overall results, and institutions monitoring tourist traffic pointed out in public announcements that the total number of overnight stays had again reached very high levels. In such an environment, the focus is visibly shifting from mere growth to the structure of demand: longer stays, higher spending, more even traffic throughout the year, and expanding the offer beyond the most visited “postcards.”
The Chinese outbound market is particularly interesting in this story for two reasons. The first is long-term potential: it is a market where trips to Europe often include several countries, and package deals still play a strong role. The second is the change in traveler habits, especially in the premium segment: personalized itineraries, local gastronomy, nature experiences, and content that can be “told” and shared on digital platforms are increasingly sought after.
Precisely for this reason, destinations like Istria, which can offer a combination of the coast, the interior, cultural content, and high-end gastronomy, are gaining additional weight in marketing plans. The idea is not just to “bring a guest,” but to motivate them to stay longer, spend more, and return – or at least recommend the destination as part of a European tour.
Istria as a “Premium and Year-Round” Destination
The organizers arranged the study trip program to show Chinese partners Istria outside the classic summer framework. In practice, this means a combination of the coast and the interior: luxury accommodation capacities, high-category restaurants, wineries and olive oil producers, historical centers, but also experiences that have become the region's trademark – from Istrian wines and olive oils to truffles.
In conversations with the hosts, the idea of “quality before quantity” was emphasized, which is a logical response to the growing competition from Mediterranean destinations. Istria is trying to utilize its recognizable identity: gastronomy, culture, active holidays, and relatively good transport accessibility with key European markets.
An important part of the message to Chinese agents was that premium experiences are not only “consumed” at the peak of summer. For destinations striving for year-round business, the pre-season and post-season are becoming equally important spaces for growth, especially when targeting segments that travel more flexibly and depend less on school holidays.
Buy Croatia Workshop: Direct Business Talks with Chinese Partners
The central part of the program was the B2B format Buy Croatia, a model that HTZ describes as a combination of an educational trip for foreign partners and business workshops with Croatian tourist entities. The goal is simple: foreign agents get to know the product on-site and then, through structured meetings, negotiate the inclusion of Croatian services and packages into their sales programs.
This cycle of meetings was focused on the Chinese market. According to the organizers, 35 Croatian business entities from the hotel industry, private accommodation, transport, travel agencies, and specialized content providers participated in the workshop. In the published list of applications in the HTZ system, it is visible that among the participants are companies and institutions relevant to the premium offer and destination experience, including entities related to truffles, certain large hotel systems, and Pula Airport, suggesting that the topic of accessibility and arrival of guests was an integral part of business conversations.
Although Novigrad is mentioned in public communication as the host of the workshop, in part of the invitation materials, the workshop was announced for Umag on January 28, 2026, which further confirms that this is a program located in northwestern Istria – an area that logistically can connect the coastal and continental parts of the Istrian product.
What Chinese Partners Are Looking For: Short but Substantial and “High Level”
In the premium segment of the Chinese market, according to sales experiences on European tours, the key elements are comfort, safety, and reputation. In Istria, this translates into three concrete things: high quality of accommodation, top-tier gastronomy, and experiences that are authentic enough to differ from standard sightseeing.
That is why the program was not limited to hotel inspections. Wine tours and tastings of local specialties serve to give agents “material” to tell the story of the destination, while the truffle hunting experience is an example of a product that can be shaped as exclusive and personalized. Such content often fits into the itineraries of travelers who visit multiple countries in the region during the same trip but seek at least one “star” point of experience.
For Croatian service providers, this part of the program also has additional value: agents evaluate not only the attractions but also the operational details – how the experience is booked, how flexible it is, what the guest receives, in which language it can be realized, and how reliably it can be “packaged” into a broader itinerary.
Education of Croatian Partners: Market Specifics and Expectations
After the B2B part, an educational lecture on the specifics of the Chinese market was held for Croatian participants. According to information from the program, the lecture was led by Franka Gulin, Director of the HTZ Representative Office in China, focusing on current demand trends and the expectations of Chinese guests in the premium segment.
In such educations, the importance of adapting communication, clarity of the offer, and service standards is usually emphasized, but also the understanding of the way trips in China are planned and sold – including the role of tour operators, specialized agencies, and digital channels. For some Croatian entities, this is also an opportunity to align the product with the habits of guests who often prefer well-organized programs, but at the same time increasingly seek flexibility and authenticity.
In a public statement related to this program, it was stated that Chinese guests in 2025 realized more than 369 thousand overnight stays in Croatia, with a growth of 1% compared to 2024. Since this data was not separately highlighted in the publicly available table at the time the statement was published, it should be viewed as information presented by the HTZ representative office in the context of presenting the market and results.
Transport Connectivity: Ivošević on the Role of Pula and “Hubs” for the Far East
Director of the Istria Tourist Board Denis Ivošević said that the region has the preconditions for a quality reception of Chinese guests and particularly emphasized the importance of air connectivity in the coming years. In this context, he mentioned the partnership with Lufthansa and the expectation of better connections between Pula Airport and Frankfurt and Munich as major European hubs for further transfers to Asia.
Pula already has a visible presence of Lufthansa on the route to Frankfurt, which is important not only for the German market but also for transit passengers. According to information available on the airline's official pages and the Pula Airport flight schedule, Frankfurt stands out as one of the key connection points in the summer months. In practice, such connections often determine how easy it is to include a destination in more complex, multi-country routes – especially when targeting a market that likes to combine several cities and countries in one trip.
For Istria, this dimension is particularly sensitive: a guest coming from the Far East usually already passes through a large European hub, and an additional quality connection to a regional airport can decide whether the program will go “all the way” – to Pula – or if the destination will be skipped due to logistics.
International Visibility: Recognition in Beijing and Messages on Sustainability
At the beginning of the same week, a solemn award ceremony related to the Chinese travel and lifestyle scene was held in Beijing. According to published information from the organizers, among the winners of the Voyage 新旅行 awards was Croatia, and the awards were presented with the participation of Chinese actor Ma Tianyu (Ray Ma).
In part of the communication related to the awards, Croatian gastronomy and wine offer were emphasized as one of the assets on the Chinese market, while available lists of winners highlight Croatia in the broader category of destinations. Along with Croatia, Spain and the Australian state of Victoria were mentioned in the same circle of winners. Dubrovnik was singled out through the topic of sustainability and responsible tourism management, with comparisons to destinations like the Côte d'Azur, Tasmania, Western Australia, and Tahiti.
Such awards do not automatically mean an increase in arrivals, but in the premium segment, they often act as a “signal of trust”: they make it easier for agents to sell a destination that is distant, and they give guests an additional reason to put it on their list at all.
The Wider Picture: What Such Programs Mean for Local Entrepreneurs
For local and national stakeholders, study trips and Buy Croatia workshops have a very practical effect: they open a channel to sales networks that decide whether Croatian products will be found in catalogs, online platforms, and packages for the next season. This is especially important for the premium offer segment, where decisions are made in advance, and the reputation of the destination is built through repeated experiences and recommendations.
For Istria, additional value is in the possibility for premium content – gastronomy, enology, boutique hotels, wellness, active tourism, and cultural heritage – to be connected into a “year-round” product. If agents get a clear picture of the logistics, standards, and flexibility of the offer, there is a higher probability that they will sell Istria outside of July and August, which is also the strategic interest of the region.
On the national level, such meetings fit into the continuous activities of the HTZ toward the Chinese market, which include study trips and business workshops at various destinations. The model relies on simple logic: a destination needs to be experienced to be convincingly sold, and that was exactly the goal of the Istrian program at the end of January 2026 – to show the product, open contacts, and leave enough concrete reasons for Croatia, and Istria specifically, to position themselves on the Chinese market as a premium choice for travelers seeking more than a standard tour of Europe.
Sources:- Croatian National Tourist Board – description of the concept and conditions of the Buy Croatia project (link)
- Croatian National Tourist Board – list of applications/participants under the name “Buy Croatia Novigrad 2026” (link)
- Croatian National Tourist Board – invitation letter for the Buy Croatia workshop in Umag (document) (link)
- Croatian National Tourist Board – example of a study trip of Chinese agents (Dalmatia and Zagreb) as a context for activities toward China (link)
- PR Newswire – report on the Voyage Awards in Beijing and list of winners (link)
- Lufthansa – informative page about flights on the Pula–Frankfurt route (link)
- Pula Airport – official flight schedule (arrivals/departures) (link)
Find accommodation nearby
Creation time: 2 hours ago