As gears up for the approaching 2025 season, businesses are focusing on staffing levels to ensure they can cope with the influx of visitors. However, with the busiest time of year looming, employers are turning to foreign workers to fill the gaps.

Once again, the country faces a shortage of young workers for its hospitality and tourism sectors. Even students who have won awards for their culinary talents would rather work abroad than stay in Croatia. There is a real risk that tourism industry could crash if the country cannot find enough staff to serve the hordes of visitors that arrive each year.

Mateo Benussi, a student at Dubrovnik's Tourism and Hospitality School, recently won a gold medal for his culinary skills at a European competition in Riga. However, despite his talent and passion for the industry, he has planned to move abroad after finishing school, reported.

"This is a job you really have to love. I want to gain experience and knowledge overseas before returning home," he said.

Dubrovnik's Tourism and Hospitality School currently has 500 students. Still, even if they pursued a career in the industry, it would not be enough to meet the growing worker demand.

"Last year, our county issued almost 11,000 work permits for non- workers, mostly in tourism and hospitality - for waiters, assistant waiters, and hotel cleaners," said Katarina Krile from the Croatian Service in Dubrovnik.

The number of work permits issued to foreign workers is expected to match, if not exceed, last year's total, with over 2,000 already issued.

In a recent series, "The Balkans: Europe's Forgotten Frontier," Katya Adler travelled to Croatia, where she met with locals from the small inland town of Kostajnica. Many residents have .

According to local Daniel Pavlic, many villages around the area are now empty, a situation reflected across much of Croatia. As many Croatians now live outside their country.

Daniel's 14-year-old daughter, Dalia, has already decided she does not want to stay in Croatia: "No, God forbid. Honestly, I don't see a future here. It wouldn't make any sense to live here."

She said many others from her school feel the same way.

"I'm sad because I think they deserve a better life than me," added Daniel, bursting into tears.