Jelsa on the island of Hvar happy with tourism numbers despite situation

Jelsa

HVAR, 24 July 2020 – Despite the current situation, the town of Jelsa on the island of Hvar is happy with the number of tourists so far this summer.

With predictions before the summer that between 30-40% of last summer’s traffic would be realised this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions, authorities in Jelsa say that they have almost doubled that projection. 

“Currently, in Jelsa, we have more than 3,200 guests. With regard to overnight stays, we are at about 65% of last year on the same day. Although we hoped, we did not really expect this result. We were not sure how things with the border would develop but we were in contact with guests the whole time and we are very satisfied,” Marija Marijan, director of the Jelsa Tourist Board told HRT.  

Marijan says there are a number of loyal tourists to Jelsa who love returning to the town and the island of Hvar.

“Guests love returning and I know this year we had a couple who celebrated their 50th visit to Jelsa,” Marijan said.

Jelsa is situated in a bay in the middle of the north coast of the island. The present town of Jelsa was founded as a port for the village of Pitve in the 14th century. The agricultural plain lying to the west of Jelsa is the UNESCO protected world heritage site Starigrad Plain.