Prices in this popular European destination are skyrocketing this year
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The costs associated with traveling to Europe have risen absurdly as a result of the economic crisis, the ongoing pandemic, and more recently war in Ukraine. Visitors are in trouble regardless of which country they choose, be it the west or Eastand adding to their debts, the popular sunny hotspot has seen a surge in prices more than usual at the turn of the year.
Since January 1, Croatia has experienced profound changes that will dictate its future as a tourist destination in the coming months. In addition to joining Schengen areaEurope’s zone without borders, the Adriatic hub has fallen by the kuna, historically Hravastki currency, i accepted the euro: the last nation to fully integrate into the European single market.
It may be true that Croatia has become progressively more expensive in recent years, but the latest events seem to be worsened the trend:
Euroization of Croatia leads to large price increases
Almost ten years after joining the EU, which it joined in 2013, Croatia entered both the Schengen Area and the Eurozone, two select groups within the EU that it did not qualify for membership until recently. From now on, traveling along the Dalmatian coast, travelers will notice that two things are different than before: first, there is lack of border checks.
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Croatia has officially joined Schengen, a customs area made up of 26 other countries passport control abolished and border formalities with all European countries that are signatories to the treaty, such as Hungary and Slovenia, with which it borders in the north. This actually means that any journey between these countries is treated as a domestic journey.
Second, there is the issue of currency. Kunas are no longer a valid form of payment in Croatia after its entry into the European Monetary Union. Although many hoped that the price of the items would only be converted from kuna to euros, at the exchange rate of a non-existent currency at the time of ‘eurization’, this did not happen:
The cost of living in Croatia has skyrocketed since January 1, as the stronger euro has suddenly pushed the weaker kuna out of the market, and products, services and transactions within the country have been ‘euroized’. Unfortunately, both the transition period, which must have been challenging, and inflation throughout the EU it didn’t help lighten the load.
The market has been preparing for the switch for years, adjusting prices to be in line with eurozone countries, and in turn has made travel to Croatia more expensive than it once was in the pre-EU era, but contrary to earlier predictions, the price increases were much more brutal than expected – sometimes, by 10 to 15 percent.
Croatia is no longer a cheap ‘Eastern European’ country to visit
Financial pressure is of course felt to a greater extent by Croatian families with medium incomes, but tourists are also affected: according to the Minister of Economy, Davor Filipović, inflation is currently 13.5 percentwith the largest increases recorded in food products and soft drinks, although other sectors were equally hard hit.
The minister pointed out that retail chains are shamelessly trying to ‘deceive’ consumers by rounding prices to the nearest ten, or significantly above that. Needless to say, restaurants, hotels, guesthouses, and tourist attractions may experience slight or significant price increases in the future. In total, Croatia is no longer a cheaper alternative to Spain or Italy.
The fact that 1,738 violations of the law on the introduction of the euro were recorded in just five days is not a good look either. In order to prevent prices from getting out of control, and to protect Croats and tourists from price abuse, the minister is quoted saying ‘all options are on the table’, incl blacklists and price freezes ‘to a wide range of products’.
If they’re looking for destinations to get the most bang for their summer tourism dollar, Americans might want to consider getting off the beaten track and exploring lesser-known countries of Southeast Europe where are the rates noticeably lower than those in Croatia, or other overpriced Mediterranean destinations, such as AlbaniaRomania and Bulgaria.
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com