ZAGREB, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Croatia's tourism sector recorded 6.5 million visits and 26 million overnight stays in the first half of the year, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said on Monday.

"We accomplished everything that we have projected. Apart from a small disbalance in May due to the bad weather, everything went by the plan," Cappelli told reporters in Funtana near the city of Porec on the Istrian peninsula.

The latest tourist numbers show a slight improvement compared to the same time last year. According to the Croatian National Tourist Board, in the first half of 2018, there were 6.4 million visits and 25.4 million overnight stays.

The minister said the government expects two to three percent growth of physical tourism indicators in 2019.

The southeastern European country is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Mediterranean. Its economy depends heavily on tourism industry, which has a nearly 20 percent share in the country's gross domestic product (GDP). In 2018, a record 19.7 million tourists visited Croatia, 6.5 percent more than in 2017.