Not really. They are not poor anymore, and can afford it. But quality is just not there compared to Italy, Greece, Egypt...
Only benefit for Polish and Czech tourist, they understand local language.
Czechs 1) were not a part of Yugoslavia 2) have a long tradition of visiting the Adriatic sea.
They are not poor anymore, and can afford it.
Anthony Bourdain disagreed[1]:
> This is world class food, this is world class wine, this is world class cheese. The next big thing is Croatia.
This was in 2012, before Croatia joined the EU, but the culture of quality cuisine doesn't change in a decade.
I can't speak about the prices, but I'm sure there are affordable restaurants and markets outside of touristy zones. Go to any popular place in the world, Greece included, and you'll pay the tourist tax.
1) They don't know coffee. There is no equivalent of the American half&half creamer.
2) I find that there is not that much in the way of vegetables when eating out. I wonder if perhaps it's a cultural thing where you give your guest the best, i.e. most caloric/tasty food possible. The tavern/grill places are especially like this.
You are joking, right? (The country that invented Starbucks might commit more serious crimes eventually. It turns out they already have.)
Here in (northern) Spain is pretty much the same. Outstanding meats, cheeses, wine, etc. but you'll be lucky to set your eyes on a salad, and the only actual vegetable on most menus is grilled peppers.
I do forewarn vegetarian friends before they come to visit, but in general I don't think "light on veggies" translates to "bad". Most European nations have gone through low veggie diets at various times.
Related: had some friends down from a northern country and they were as amazed at the taste and cost of the tomatoes, as they were at the fact they came from the country my guests came from.
We figured from growth to packing to transportation to purchase, made the tomatoes 'just right' on the day we got them. Not had anything similar since for taste, including those i bought last night.
No, prices are high because they've been jacked up as high as the market will bear. As an example, an cup of coffee at a beach bar in a random coastal village (€2.5) is about the same as in the (touristy) center of London (£2).
The effects will probably be seen the next year.
As other commenters noted, Croatia has historically been mass budget tourism location, largely undiscovered by comparatively wealthier western tourists (aside from Germans). Ultra-low taxes for "mom and pop" short-term rentals exacerbated the mass low-quality buildout.
Now it's at a point where prices went up fast (due to euro, overall inflation and the tourist demographics changes), but the quality didn't catch up yet (generalizing a lot here).
There's also been more vocal "anti tourist" sentiment (echoing protests in Barcelona, but just people complaining on blogs and in news) that will for sure get more momentum in the next few years.
Also I do find it kind of funny when tourists are complaining about prices of food in touristy places. I've eaten a hamburger in Chicago which was $15 and food prices (restaurants etc) are comparatively much higher then in Croatia.
At the same time, the prices in the grocery stores are completely out of control due to high taxes and makes living on the coast or islands as a local miserable and very expensive. Needless to say that housing is also totally out of wack, Croatia is not going in a good direction for it's own citizens.
The effects will probably be seen the next year.