Advent in Zagreb has grown incredibly over the past few years, with more and more guests, more attractions and for the third year in a row an award as the leading Christmas market in Europe. And this year looks like being just as successful as ever.

Busy Christmas market in the Croatian capital - Photo - Zagreb Tourist Board

Figures released by the Zagreb Tourist Board show that from the 1st of December to the 31st of December 2017 a massive 110,707 tourists visited the Croatian capital achieving almost 200,000 overnight stays. The most numerous tourists, in terms of nationality, were from neighbouring Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Slovenia and Germany.

The simple fact that Austrians, with their varied and traditional Christmas markets, have chosen Zagreb as a destination for the festive season shows the attraction of the Advent in Zagreb. “We are from Graz and we heard about the large ice-skating rink and the hundreds of festive stands and atmosphere,” explained a group of young Austrian tourists to The Dubrovnik Times in the Croatian capital.

A sea of festibe lights - Photo - Zagreb Tourist Board

But it wasn’t only neighbouring countries that decided to drop into Zagreb for advent, thanks to an opening of flights from more distant destinations there were also tourist from the United States, Canada, Australia and South Korea. Speaking to the Croatian newspaper Vecernji the Director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Martina Bienenfeld, commented that she expects revenue from the advent season to exceed 500 million Kuna. The festivities in the capital come to an end this weekend with the conclusion on Sunday the 7th of January.