LJUBLJANA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia and Croatia will continue a joint tourism promotion campaign on the Chinese market, with latest support of funds from the European Travel Commission (ETC).

The Slovenian Tourist Board (STO) and the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) made the announcement on Wednesday.

The two tourist organisations applied in last June for ETC funds, intended for the promotion of European countries on the Chinese market, with a joint project, to be carried out between October 2018 and March 2019, worth a total of 204,000 euros (239,000 U.S. dollars).

The ETC will reimburse half of the costs of the project, according to the STO press release on Wednesday.

The joint campaign of Slovenia and Croatia, intended for potential tourists from China and other remote markets, thus continues to run under the slogan "Experience Croatia" and "Feel Slovenia".

STO Director Maja Pak indicated that China is one of the most prospective global tourist markets "with a projected 160 million trips in 2018" .

The STO is present on the Chinese market through business-to-business activities, such as tourism workshops, study tours for Chinese tour operators, and through hosting Chinese providers at the Slovenian Incoming Workshop (SIW).

The most recent study by the ETC shows that tourists from overseas markets usually visit Slovenia as part of a tour of the Western Balkans. In 58.5 percent of the cases they combine visits to Slovenia and Croatia.

Slovenia has been recording a steady growth in the number of Chinese tourists since 2005. Last year, a total of 62,919 Chinese tourists visited Slovenia, an increase of 42 percent compared to 2016.