Croatia and Austria are founders and members of
The Alps-Adriatic Working Group. Goals of this organisation are mutual communication, discussion, and coordination of the points of interest of the member states, development of cooperation and exchanges in the Alpine-Adriatic region, strengthening of the Central European cultural identity, and participation in the processes of European cooperation and integration. Main areas of cooperation are sports, tourism, environmental protection, connecting cities, preservation of cultural and recreational spaces, culture and science, and European integration. Austrian nobility started visiting the Croatian coast in the 1880s.
Opatija became a fashionable destination for the Austrian imperial family and the Austrian nobility. Soon, many luxury hotels and villas were built. The first luxury hotel – Hotel "Quarnero" (1884) (today "Grand Hotel Kvarner") was built according to the plans by Viennese architect Franz Wilhelm. The hotel Kronprinzessin Stephanie was opened in 1885.
Crown princess Stephanie, after whom the hotel was named, and her husband
Crown Prince Rudolf appeared at the opening. In 1887, Heinrich von Littrow established the "Union Yacht Club Quarnero" in Opatija, which was the first sailing club on the
Adriatic. In 1889, Austrian government officially declared Opatija as the first climatic seaside resort on the Adriatic. Evan today Austrians are among the most frequent visitors of the Croatian coast, while Croats are frequent visitors of Austrian ski resorts. In 2018, 1.37 million Austrian tourists visited Croatia. They accounted for 7.065 million overnight stays, behind only German and Slovenian tourists in the overall number of overnight stays of foreign visitors. ==Croatian (cultural) organizations in Austria==