Market Report: Croatia
After a strong 2023, the market in Croatia is showing signs of cooling down in 2024. While major international pop acts rarely tour there, local acts have been doing good business in the country.
Primary ticketing
CTS Eventim is the heavyweight international operator in the market, with local player Entrio, founded in 2011, a close second. In June 2024, Entrio raised €9m in funding in a round led by Invera Equity Partners with a plan to expand in Southeast Europe. Ulaznice.hr and moje-karte.hr focus on B2B solutions, mainly in sport and entertainment.
Distribution of sales
The Croatian market used to be “very rural and old school” according to Mario Grdosic, MD of leading Croatian promoter LAA, where consumers “used to trust printed tickets in local shops,” but that has shifted quickly and significantly. He now estimates that 90% of ticket sales are digital.
Entrio, meanwhile, says online accounts for 82% of its ticket sales so far this year, up from 52% in 2018.
“Sales strategies in the live entertainment sector in Croatia are still largely reliant on traditional approaches, such as fixed pricing or early-bird prices.”
Berislav Marszalek, CEO and founder of Entrio, adds, “Sales strategies in the live entertainment sector in Croatia are still largely reliant on traditional approaches, such as fixed pricing or early-bird prices. Dynamic pricing is a recent topic of interest, but major events have yet to implement it.”
Value of market
The Croatian live market was projected to be worth $26.6m in 2024, according to Statista, rising to $29.4m by 2028. The market, according to Grdosic, was at its most robust and prices at “an all-time high” in 2023.
In 2024, however, there are signs across the board that things are starting to slow down. Consumers are becoming more selective in the number of shows they go to, with Grdosic estimating that prices for some acts are double or triple what they were five years ago.
Secondary ticketing
Perhaps as an indicator of the relatively small size of the market, there is no industrialised secondary market in Croatia and, as such, no specific legislation covering such sales. Problems here, however, are emerging, and tickets are being resold through classified ad platforms like Njuškalo or Facebook groups.
“A recent practice to prevent scalping at high-demand events involves delaying ticket delivery until a few hours before the event.”
The ticketing sector is moving to respond. “Access control is based on scanning QR codes from mobile or print-at-home tickets,” notes Marszalek. “A recent practice to prevent scalping at high-demand events involves delaying ticket delivery until a few hours before the event.”
International/domestic splits & genres
As domestic acts tour more frequently, the Croatian market skews more heavily towards the local, and Marszalek says there is a boom in the number of new local acts.
“We are still a bit old-school and a rock market in general,” says Grdosic. “Fresh new stuff and today’s pop music rarely comes over here, so fans of acts like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, or Olivia Rodrigo need to travel to Austria, Italy, or Germany to catch those shows.”
Cultural analysis
The country’s adoption of the euro in 2023 is having a dual dynamic of pushing up prices but also pushing up sales, says Grdosic.
“The average ticket price rose from €19 in 2019 to €26.20 so far in 2024,” notes Marszalek. “This represents an increase of almost 38%. We believe that ticket prices will stabilise in the next year, while the total market size and ticket sales will continue to grow.”
Damir Vranic, MD of Eventim Croatia and Slovenia, feels there are many new opportunities revealing themselves in the country.
“There are two main areas for growth in our market – long tail promoters and sports clubs.”
“There are two main areas for growth in our market – long tail promoters and sports clubs,” he says. “By leveraging our advanced tools and platforms, we can drive innovation, streamline operations, and provide exceptional value, positioning ourselves as a leading partner in these growing segments.”
Taxes & charges
VAT used to be 25% but is now 5%, which is seen as one of the key factors behind strong ticket sales. “I don’t think there would be a concert business here today if that rate had stayed at 25%,” says Grdosic. The cuts ticketing companies take on sales can vary between 5% and 10%.
Country Profile: Croatia
Although the touring conditions in 2024 were described as “solid,” ticket sales in Croatia have been 10-15% slower compared to 2023, according to Mario Grdosic, managing director of the leading Croatian promoter LAA.
He suggests that “inflation and too many shows in such a small market” are the main reasons.
From British-based companies such as Global and Defected Records, which organise the annual Hideout and Defected Croatia festivals, to German-owned Cosmopop and Istanbul-based Charmenko, international promoters play a significant role in the Croatian live music market, particularly in the realm of festivals.
The other key Croatian independent promoter is In Music Ltd., founded by Zoran Marić. The company exclusively books globally renowned artists for their yearly INmusic festival. This year, Hozier and Bombay Bicycle Club graced the stage at Lake Jarun. The Croatian government has invested in its cultural infrastructure, booking Gregory Porter as a headliner for the Zagreb Jazz Festival.
“Big promoters are still afraid to take risks with very new and fresh acts, as there isn’t much data and experience available.”
Pop and old-school rock continue to be popular in the Croatian market. However, Grdosic acknowledges that “big promoters are still afraid to take risks with very new and fresh acts, as there isn’t much data and experience available.”
Despite increasing competition, LAA has achieved significant success by playing to the market’s strengths. In 2024, the company collaborated with artists such as Duran Duran and Simple Minds, who performed at Pula Arena, a 12,500-capacity Roman amphitheatre. Other successful collaborations and headline shows included Thievery Corporation, Khruangbin, and Grace Jones, who made her debut in Zagreb this year.
Although Grdosic recognises the growing competition in the Croatian market, he remains confident about the future and the position of his company. “Our company is not dependent on big shows and is happy to operate within the 2,000-to-8,000- capacity range mostly, so I think we should be good.”
Arena Market: Croatia
Once a sleepy music backwater, Croatia has taken its place as the focal point of European music.
Its summer festival season attracts fans from around the continent to numerous events, like the long-running party festival Hideout at Zrce Beach and Love International at The Garden Tisno, featuring clubbing stalwarts Optimo and Horse Meat Disco. The arena scene is healthy, too. Croatia’s largest arena, the 4,000-18,600 Arena Zagreb, has recently welcomed 50 Cent and Sting, plus Eurovision winner Marija Šerifović.
“The entire of 2024 is booked – or maybe it’s better to say, ‘sold out,’ while 2025 is on 80% already,” says Arena Zagreb project manager Miroslav Stanec,“and, I’m going to sound a bit cocky now, for 2026, we’ve managed to book up to 50%, which is amazing in these turbulent times for our industry,” he adds.
“The entire of 2024 is booked – or maybe it’s better to say, ‘sold out,’ while 2025 is on 80% already”
What of the acts that appear in Zagreb? “International acts are the same on an annual basis – up to 15 events a year are international concerts and musicals. It would definitely be a big plus to have more of them, but honestly, our market is a bit specific regarding international concerts, they prefer R’n’B and rock,” says Stanec.
The growth area at Zagreb is urban music in particular. Says Stanec: “Urban music is rising at the moment in comparison to the last couple of years, while all other genres are holding steady. R’n’B and rock are up by 10%, which is still an excellent percentage.”
The 15-year-old venue is getting some TLC, with a new jumbotron the highlight of the upgrades, along with an improvement to the tripod system. Split’s Spaladium Arena (12,300), Zadar’s Krešimir Ćosić Hall (8,500), and the capital’s Dom Sportova (10,550) – round out the country’s arena offerings.