AI recommends Croatia to British holidaymakers in new study

Croatia is among the destinations most frequently recommended by artificial intelligence tools when people in the United Kingdom ask where to go for a summer holiday, according to a new analysis.

The study found that Croatia appeared in 67% of the analysed responses generated by ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Google’s AI summaries in response to searches for seaside summer holidays.

The results put Croatia close to Greece and Italy, highlighting the country’s visibility in AI-generated travel recommendations.

The analysis was conducted by Zagreb-based company Determ,

The analysis was conducted by Zagreb-based company Determ, which examined the destinations suggested by the tools to users in the UK.

The findings offer an indication of how travellers may increasingly discover holiday destinations as they turn to AI assistants and search engines for ideas, rather than relying exclusively on traditional search results or travel agencies.

Spain was the most frequently mentioned destination, appearing in 71% of responses, followed by Greece and Italy, both at 70%. Croatia ranked fourth among the seven countries analysed, ahead of Portugal (41%), Montenegro (20%) and Turkey (19%).

ChatGPT mentions Croatia most often

The results varied considerably depending on the AI platform.

ChatGPT mentioned Croatia in 80% of its responses,

ChatGPT mentioned Croatia in 80% of its responses, meaning the country appeared in four out of every five answers analysed. Gemini mentioned Croatia in 67% of responses, while Google’s AI Overviews included it in 53%.

The study also found that the overall tone of AI-generated descriptions of Croatia was strongly positive, scoring +70 on a scale ranging from -100 to +100.

In one response collected on 16 October, Croatia was described as a leading European summer destination, combining clear turquoise waters, historic Mediterranean architecture, island life and diverse natural landscapes.

One of the study’s main findings concerned the

Facebook was the most frequently cited website,

Facebook was the most frequently cited website, with 143 citations, followed by YouTube with 100 and Instagram with 83. Travel publications and guides also featured prominently, with Lonely Planet receiving 69 citations and Time Out 62.

Official tourism websites appeared less frequently. Spain’s official tourism website, spain.info, received 34 citations, while visitgreece.gr received 31. Croatia’s official tourism website, croatia.hr, did not rank among the 50 most frequently cited

The research, conducted between 1 and 16 October 2026, examined 556 AI-generated responses containing more than 3,000 citations from 628 different websites.

According to Determ, editorial content accounted for 37% of citations in the responses analysed.

The findings suggest that social media, video content

The findings suggest that social media, video content and independent travel guides can play an important role in shaping how AI assistants present holiday destinations to potential visitors.

Determ’s chief operating officer, Ivor Bihar, said British families increasingly ask AI assistants for holiday recommendations rather than browsing multiple traditional search results.

He said Croatia regularly appeared in these responses, but theportunities for destinations to improve their online visibility

The company recommends that tourism organisations monitor AI

The company recommends that tourism organisations monitor AI responses across different platforms and target markets, publish clear and up-to-date information addressing travellers’ questions, and pay closer attention to editorial coverage, travel guides, social media and video platforms.

The research was based on 12 common seaside holiday questions asked in English from the perspective of a UK user across ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. One query explicitly named Croatia and was excluded from the country-mention and

Determ cautioned that the results represent early findings rather than a definitive ranking. The comparison covered seven destinations, and the results may vary according to the questions asked, the AI platform and the market being analysed.

The company’s AI Visibility tool monitors six AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode.