DUBROVNIK - A record number of 250,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit Croatia this year, Mario Rendulic, president of Chinese Southeast European Business Association (CSEBA) told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Chinese tourists in Croatia are most interested in history, sightseeing and gastronomy, according to Rendulic, whose association is one of the organizers of the three-day "Silk Road Tourism Conference" in Dubrovnik that ends on Thursday.

Chinese tourists expect the improvement of the tourist offer in the places they visit in Croatia. During the conference, public signs in Chinese were also suggested in the cities that Chinese tourists most often visit.

"Croatia still does not use enough potentials when it comes to Chinese tourists, and the arrival of 40 Chinese businessmen at this conference confirms that there is a great interest for investing in Croatian tourism and tourism industry," said Rendulic.

Leading Chinese tourism operators also participated in the conference co-organized by Hong Kong-based Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce (SRCIC), showing great interest in investing in resources on the Adriatic coast and building hotels in the continental part of Croatia.

The number of tourists from the Chinese mainland reached 160,000 in 2017, an increase of nearly 57 percent from the previous year, according to data from Croatian government.