Croatia Economy Eyes Windfall From World Cup Success

A stand with cheering equipment and the famous red-and-white checkerboards on the main square in Zagreb. Photo: Anja Vladisavljevic

The Croatian football team's dazzling success in Russia will strengthen Croatia as a brand, Maja Vrataric, a PR expert from Grizli agency, explained to BIRN.

"The World Cup finals on Sunday were broadcasted in every country of the world, which means a lot for our country's visibility," Vrataric said.

The Croatian media monitoring service, Mediatoolkit, tracking mentions of a particular keyword in real time, reported that after the match between Russia and Croatia, global websites used the word "Croatia" three times more than in the last three years.

On the day of the match with Russia, Croatia was mentioned in the foreign media no less than 118,482 times.

On Sunday, the website of the Croatian Tourist Board, HTZ, recorded an increase in visits of more than 200 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The most visits were recorded from 4pm on Sunday up to an hour after the game ended, with most visits being recorded from India, Italy, the US, Germany, Croatia, Russia and France.

Experts claim that sporting success in Russia could have a major impact on the Croatian economy, especially because the internet is now the main tool used to choose travel destinations.

"Social networks are overwhelmed with support messages, red-and-white checkerboards, and the Croatian flag has never had so much visibility," Vrataric said.

She pointed out that Croatian football players have recognized the impact of their private social networks, and have opened new official profiles, recording live videos from hotels and even buses, also sending messages to their fans.

The HTZ has made use of the players' success to create a slogan, "Croatia Full of excellent players".

It has made a special video, in which the...

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