How Kind are People in Croatian Shops?
A lot of people visiting Croatia would like to know what are Croats like. The nation is known for their value of traditional values, but also to have a welcoming approach to foreigners of the world. In order to ‘measure’ the level of Croatian hospitality, local agency Heraklea makes an annual research, which consists of visiting about 1500 localities across the country. These usually include shops of all kinds or places of various services.
During the visit, Heraklea agents perform a so-called ‘mystery shopping’ feat. They behace like usual clients, but in reality they track the behavior of the shop keepers, evaluating their attitude and approach to customers. One general aspect of this research is to determine whether the keepers greet their customers, and how sincere the greeting is.
At the end, Heraklea makes a report, and the most recent one is rather encourageing. According to agency, about 90,6% of shop keepers greet their customers in a polite and welcoming tone. This is an increase of 3,4% since the last year. People working in bars and cafés are deemed to be most hospitable.
Istria is the most hospitable region in Croatia, according to research. In this part of Croatia, 95,3% of shop keepers greeted their customers. Among these 60,7% did so in a very sincere and welcoming way, establishing a healthy initial relationship with their clients.
The region of Kvarner had the least favorable result, as 88,5% of study participants greeted their customers. It is still a high number, but one can hope digits will be higher during next year. The biggest leap in hospitality is tied to Slavonia, with an increase of greeting by 6,1% since the last year.
What are your experiences with Croatian hospitality? Would you describe Croats as a kind or unkind nation? Where should they improve most? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Nikola Georgiev
Heraklea is a Croatian company with Croatian mystery shoppers who test Croatian service in shops … How objective can be their study ?!
I have a house in Croatia (Korcula) since 2007 and although I feel a small improvement in the quality of services and people’s hospitality, the level is still very low compared to other European or extra-European countries. Unfortunately, Croatian people seem to consider tourism as a necessary evil because of economical reasons. Socialist footprint is still very perceptible in how workers are willing to serve and welcome guests, lack of enthusiasm is a big problem.
Hello, thank you, good bye and a smile are part of a basic behavior which is generally lacking.
I really think the survey should be done by a mix of different nationality shoppers !
Despite my negative feedback, I love Croatia for its nature and I hope human relationship will improve in the future.
Sinke
We are sorry that you have such view of Croatian hospitality, Nikola. Hopefully you will change your mind in the future, and we are more than certain that local people working in tourism industry will do their best 🙂
Heraklea’s job was to provide an objective opinion. There are many foreign platforms that deal with similar subjects and we can’t deny that they are generally quite favorable to Croatia.