Exactly one year ago, on July 26th, 2022, the Peljesac Bridge, which connects the south of the Republic of Croatia with the rest of the country, was officially opened and put into traffic.
According to official state data, by July 25th this year, 2.305,537 vehicles crossed the Peljesac Bridge, and the pressure on the Neum border crossing dropped significantly.
According to data from Croatian Roads, during the peak tourist season, the bridge is crossed by an average of 13.880 vehicles per day. So far this year, 984.596 vehicles have crossed the bridge. The highest number of vehicles since opening to traffic was on Saturday, July 30th last year, when 19.029 vehicles crossed it.
The Police Administration of Dubrovnik-Neretva County stated that after the opening of the Peljesac Bridge, the traffic across the border crossings delimiting the Neum Corridor has been significantly reduced.
A comparison of the total traffic from July 1st to July 26th of this year and last year through the Klek and Zaton Doli border crossings shows a decrease in the number of passengers by 64 percent and vehicles by 67 percent.
Although many in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) predicted dark scenarios for the only seaside town in BiH when the Peljesac Bridge was opened, because it was expected that the number of tourists who would stop in Neum from transit would decrease, those forecasts did not come true, and the only seaside town in BiH achieved a record tourist season.
At the moment, almost all capacities are filled, and prices are about 15 percent higher compared to last year, which makes the only seaside town in BiH still more affordable than other tourist destinations on the Adriatic.
The tourist season in Neum this year shows excellent results, even though summer vacations in the pearl of BiH on the Adriatic are 15 percent more expensive this year, said Ramiz Basic, a senior expert associate of the Tourist Board of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC).
He added that tourist officials are very satisfied with the pre-season and the current occupancy of tourist facilities (95 percent), and plans are being made for the post-season as well.
The majority of Neum guests come from BiH, while a part of the guests are from France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Serbia, and this year the number of guests from the Republic of Croatia has also increased.
In Neum, they hope that the numbers from 2019 will be reached for this season.
