Hotel Olympia Sky, one of the biggest investments in the tourism sector in Croatia worth HRK 172 million, was ceremonially opened on Friday, July 7. The opening of the hotel in Vodice was attended by Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, minister of tourism Gari Capelli and Tomislav Mađar, the special ambassador of the President, reports Poslovni dnevnik.
Minister Capelli called the new hotel a win for Croatian tourism. "This is a big investment, one of the 40 hotels opening this year that are worth a total of 800 million kuna. That's a sign we're able to recognise what we need. The Town of Vodice and the Šibenik-Knin County know how to manage this tourist destination, and are seeing an increase of 30% in the number of overnight stays compared with the same period last year. This year we're expecting an increase in income for tourism of around 10%", said Capelli.
Olympia Sky is an expansion of the Olympia complex, raising the number of accommodation units for 149: there are 130 new rooms and 19 apartments. The ninth floor houses a pool with a panorama view of Vodice, Murter, Šibenik and Kornati, while the last, tenth floor is home to a luxurious panoramic restaurant Sky. The eye-catching design of the structure was inspired by cruise ships, and the hotel facilities are equipped in the same way as the cruising giants.
Tomislav Mađar stated the recent investments proved that everything is possible to achieve. "We can't view tourism as an individual economic sector, but as a catalyst for development of other branches of economy such as agriculture and fishing. That's the right way to preserve tradition and prosperity. Today's tourists don't only look for a nice view but for positive energy and new experiences as well, and those are created by people. That's why I wan't to congratulate all individuals who participated in this project", Mađar said.
Parliament Speaker Jandroković called the hotel the pride of Croatia. "This is an object comparable to the best hotels in the world, and all of us need to be proud. Olympia Sky is a piece of the Croatian tourism mosaic. Major developments are going on and we are not fully aware of that yet. We're seeing business growth in double digit percentages, tourism is our strongest sector, we're witnessing a historically low level of unemployment, we corrected our excessive deficit, export is growing and we have reasons to be satisfied", said Jandroković and pronounced the hotel officially opened.
The attendees were also adressed by the head of Olympia Vodice association Josip Stojanović who said this was an investment for the future and the coming generations. Thanking everyone who worked on the project, Stojanović called the hotel a continuation of the vision of Ante Vulina, the architect who finished the concept design project 15 days prior to his death.
Olympia currently holds four stars, and plans to remain in that category for now. The goal of the investment is to develop congress tourism, and seeing that Olympia has 4 congress halls, the largest of which has a seating capacity of 600, we'll certainly soon see their vision coming true.
