Zagreb - Croatia's once-booming nudist camps are in danger of extinction, according to a newspaper report Monday. Of 24 nudist camps in the 1980s, today only half are still operating, with the workforce similarly halved, from 1,290 to 650.
Over the years the more basic facilities at Croatian camps have seen the country lose out to more lavish camps in France and Germany.
Figures show a the number of nights nudists have spent in camps, from 5.1 million two decades ago to 2.1 million last year. In addition, nudists spend a shorter time vacationing in camps - seven instead of 9.5 days in the 1980s.
But the crucial factor is the general drop of interest for nudism across in Europe, which had 25 million registered naturists at the peak in the 1980s and only 3 million today, the report said.
While there are more so-called wild nudist beaches, these naked tourists spend less than camp-dwellers, thus depriving the Croatian tourist industry, which is the largest contributor to the nation's gross domestic product.
