The eighth episode of Star Wars will be filmed in Croatia’s Dubrovnik in March, the head of Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Hrvoje Hribar, confirmed on February 12, local media reports.

A number of CEE countries have become filming location for some US production companies in the past years due to their attracting locations and lower production costs. However, Croatia seems to be attracting some of the most popular ones which place large investments in the Adriatic country and, at the same time, boost its tourism industry.

“Star Wars will be filmed in Dubrovnik from the 9th to the 16th of March this year. For months we have been preparing for this project and an official announcement but due to the corporate policy of Disney we were not in the position to give an official announcement,” Hribar said, according to Thedubrovniktimes.hr.

The production company will place a large investment in the country, estimated at $5mn- $6mn, the biggest per shooting day so far in the country.

Dubrovnik, Croatia’s most popular tourist destination, has also been used as a filming location for popular HBO series Game of Thrones. The production company has brought Croatia nearly HRK100mn (€13mn), according to local media. It has also helped boost its tourist number. Last year, Croatia had a very successful tourist year, with the number of foreign tourists going up 9.1% y/y to 12.68mn. Foreign tourists are expected to have brought more than €8bn to the country last year.