Croatia: Naturism on the decline?

[jan26]

The following article was published on the web site Balkan Travellers on June 16, 2009:

Croatia's once-booming nudist camps are facing extinction, due to both a general decline of interest in this type of tourism and a decrease of facilities catering to it in Croatia.

Out of 24 nudist camps which Croatia boasted in the 1980s, only half are still operating, with their staff reduced as well from 1,290 to 650, according to a recent publication by the DPA news agency.

Croatia, with its more basic camp facilities, the publication wrote, is partly losing out on nudist tourists to more luxurious camps in France and Germany. While 5.1 million nights were spent in Croatian camps by nudists 20 years ago, their number has dwindled to 2.1 million last year. The amount of time they spent in the country's camps has also decreased – from an average of 9.5 days in the 1980s to the current seven.

Another factor which contributes to the decline of this type of tourism in Croatia is the general drop of interest in nudism across Europe. The continent, according to the publication, had 25 million registered naturalists at the movement's peak in the 1980s, while they number only 3 million today.

This is definitely not good news for us, as Croatia (which until 1992 was part of Yugoslavia) has in the past been the holiday country of choice for many European naturists, especially for those on a somewhat tight budget. France, of course, still offers the greatest variety of nude travel destinations, but quite a few of them must be considered upmarket and are not affordable for everyone. The ever-popular Euronat resort at the French Atlantic coast, for example, charges a weekly rental fee of 679 Euros (approx. US-$ 950) in summer for a mobile home that sleeps four. And you have not yet had anything to eat for that price!

It does, however, not make sense to relate the number of organized naturists (the article erroneously calls us "naturalists") to the general interest in nude holidaymaking. Whereas there were few opportunities for naturism in the eighties if you were not holder of an INF/FNI card, a membership of some kind really is no longer necessary today to enjoy your vacation in the nude. The market for naturist holidaymaking is still growing, so maybe Croatia is just missing an opportunity there?

[Chrisco]

This is sad in any place, it is especially sad in a place like Croatia that has an emerging economy in a country that is still healing from the war they suffered through in the 1990's. 

[Danee]

I don't know..they seem to be pretty active as I am sure you all saw from their site (http://internationalyn.org/forum/index.php/topic,493.0.html).

Suggestion: One of you fine villagers take upon yourself to email them and ask what they thought about that article and advise them we would love to be linked with them?  Challenge!!!  Let's see who 'shows up'.

-Danee