River cruises in the Republic of Croatia

Početkom 21. stoljeća, riječna krstarenja bilježe rast na unutarnjim plovnim putevima u Europi. Skoro više od polovice ukupnog tržišta čine krstarenja Dunavom, Rajnom, kanalom Rajna-Majna-Dunav. S obzirom na to da Hrvatska leži na Dunavskom koridoru kojeg čine tri rijeke: Sava (562 km), Drava (305 km) i Dunav (188 km), takav položaj veoma je pogodan za razvoj riječnih krstarenja. Za razvoj riječnih krstarenja, osim povoljnog položaja, potrebna je i zadovoljavajuća plovnost na rijekama kako bi se moglo odvijati krstarenje bez raznih prepreka. Potpisanim Međunarodnim sporazumom o glavnim plovnim putevima u Hrvatskoj, rijeke Sava, Drava i budući kanal Dunav-Sava uvršteni su u mrežu europskih unutarnjih polovnih puteva, dok su luke u Osijeku i Vukovaru postale dio mreže luka za međunarodni promet. Međutim, navedena mreža plovnih puteva nije dovoljno iskorištena za riječna krstarenja. Iako Hrvatska bilježi porast broja putnika, još uvijek zaostaje za europskim zemljama u ovom segmentu razvoja turizmaAt the beginning of the 21st century, river cruises recorded growth on inland waterways in Europe. Almost half of the total market is made up of cruises on the Danube, the Rhine, the Rhine-Main-Danube canal. Since Croatia lies on the Danube Corridor consisting of three Sava river (562 km), Drava (305 km) and the Danube (188 km). Such a position is very suitable for the development of river cruises. For the development of river cruises in addition to a favorable position, there is also a need for adequate river cruising so that cruise can take place without any obstacles. The Danube-Sava River Danube Sava has been signed into the network of European Inland Pathways, while the ports in Osijek, Vukovar, have become part of the international network of ports for international traffic, signed by the International Agreement on Major Waterways in Croatia, the Sava River and Drava. However, the mentioned waterway network is not sufficiently used for river cruises. Although, Croatia's growing passenger numbers are still lagging behind for European countries in this segment of tourism development