June the 6th, 2022 - Croatian marinas up and down the coastline are becoming more and more popular for those seeking nautical experiences in tourism. One marina even has a waiting list.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, while most facilities, from hotels to campsites, expect a more massive arrival of guests from mid-June onwards, the height of the summer tourist season in Croatian marinas has long since begun. There are no free berths left in many of them, and it seems that more and more wealthy sailors are coming to Croatia, reports HRT.

There is no free berth to speak of, for example, in the Pula marina. The owners of the largest ships have at least a three-member crew that they pay for all year round, and they sail the Croatian Adriatic only during the summer months.

"They spend very well, you know, we always sleep in marinas, there are costs, of course, they go out to restaurants in the evening, and the groceries they use on board cost a lot, they aren't just your average things, so they're good consumers," said Anton Cukon.

Those spending time in Croatia owing to nautical tourism tend to spend twice as much as the average guest and more and more of the wealthiest among them are docking in Croatian marinas.

"Every day we receive inquiries for much larger vessels. We used to have inquiries for ships of 15-16 metres in length, and now, on a weekly basis, there are inquiries for over 25 metre vessels. What's the cause of this, what do you think? There's obviously a surplus of money in the world,'' believes Aleksandar Suran, the director of the marina Veruda, Pula.

In the marina in Rovinj - only the largest boats are present. Renovated three years ago, the latest technological and service standards have brought it a maximum of five anchors, seeing it attract many who otherwise went to other countries.

"We've filled all of our capacities for annual berths and we have no problems in the sense of poor announcements, in fact more berths are needed, so we already have a waiting list," said Goran Bilic, the director of ACI Marina Rovinj.

"We came to Rovinj because we bought a new, bigger boat. And here we have all the necessary infrastructure,'' said Andreas, a sailor from Austria.

The Marina Association warns that further investments in Croatian marinas are questionable. Namely, most of them will have their concessions expire in 2030, after which a public tender will be announced.

"You can't invest some serious funds now, in 2022, and expect to depreciate them by 2030. That's why we ask that such a possibility be left for the existing Croatian marinas to decide whether they want to continue," explained Sean Lisjak, president of the Marina Association.

In order for existing Croatian marinas to have an advantage in such tenders, at least three ministries must agree: the Ministry of Maritime Affaits, Tourism and, of course, the Minstry of Finance.

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As Novac/Privredni/Jozo Vrdoljak writes on the 26th of May, 2020, following the easing of the formerly stringent anti-coronavirus measures and with the aim of improving the general offer and the successful start of Croatian nautical tourism this summer season, ACI is introducing more favourable conditions in its marinas from the 1st to the 30th of June, 2020.

Owing to the implementation of these measures designed to give the Croatian nautical tourism industry a much needed boost for 2020's season, during June, all sailors whose vessels are on an annual berth will receive free daily berths in all ACI marinas, and all other sailors will receive a very welcome 30 percent discount.

Free berths are limited to two free daily berths per individual ACI marina for private vessel owners, who can, as such, spend the whole month of June free of charge outside of their ''home marinas'' in other ACI marinas, from as far north as Umag all the way down to Croatia's southernmost city of Dubrovnik. Sailors in a charter who rent vessels in one of the ACI marinas can also gain access to one free berth in each ACI marina they enter during their charter.

In normalising everyday life and business, bearing the importance of Croatian nautical tourism and the interest of sailors for sailing on the Adriatic sea in mind, ACI has decided to attempt to further meet the needs of annual guests and those in transit.

"The new benefits we have prepared are a kind of thank you for the understanding and support that our guests, both domestic and foreign, have shown in the past and throughout all the years so far. We're glad that together, we've managed to successfully overcome all of the challenges that have been put before us in recent months, and we're looking forward to the arrival of our sailors. Every day, we're further developing our services to provide our guests with added value and better experiences,'' stated Kristijan Pavic, President of the Management Board of ACI.

Given the fact that the Republic of Croatia is home to 40 percent of the world's charter fleet, ACI continues to position the country on the nautical tourism map of the world, which is something that comes with an array of additional benefits. On top of all of that, one of the largest charter fleets in the world is located in the marinas dotted along the Croatian coast, meaning that the time is now to provide the Croatian nautical tourism sector a spring in its step.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of April, 2019, Croatia's ACI has published its revised annual financial statements for 2018. The company's revenue growth trend thankfully continued in 2018, its total revenue grew by seven percent when compared to 2017, amounting to 216 million kuna, while the company's operating income increased by eleven percent to 211 million kuna.

Revenues have been growing in almost all of ACI's marinas, and the company's profit also grew by 54 percent to a massive 38.4 million kuna, while its EBITDA increased by 22 percent to 93.9 million kuna.

The largest single investment project in ACI's history was also completed. In March, a new license was issued for the new ACI marina in Rovinj. This is a project that in which over 150 million kuna has been invested and can be briefly described in just four words: beauty, luxury, innovative solutions and security. The new marina's categorisation is now underway.

The new ACI marina has 1,400 m2 of commercial space available, and special attention has been paid to providing high level services on the premises, including catering facilities, restaurants and café-lounge bars, grocery stores, wellness centres, world-renowned brands, reputable sales offices for luxury yachts, charter agencies, a service centre for boats, etc.

The Rovinj ACI marina is equipped with the latest generation of WiFi systems, and luxury boats are provided with the most advanced video surveillance and access control system available. Particular care was taken to protect the surrounding environment and maintain the purity of the marine environment, construction materials and energy systems that provide maximum energy efficiency were used during construction, and all the benefits of LED lighting technology and lighting management were properly and readily applied. The official opening of the marina will be at the end of April this year.

The modernisation of the business that ACI has been intensively pursuing over the last few years is primarily focused on raising the quality of its services, attracting new clients and exploring the market potential of the Adriatic region as a whole.

Back in 2018, the company first published its own ACI No1 magazine, both in print and in digital format. It is a magazine which combines an ACI marina catalog, information for boaters, exclusive reportages and lifestyle themes, and a 2019 issue is just been made available.

ACI also achieves excellent results in the area of ​​digital business with its own reservation system. From last season, boaters have also had ACI's mobile application that provides easy and quick access to information and booking links available to them. For the third year in a row, ACI has also been using a digital sailing system with the help of special applications and devices used by sailors.

Given ACI's steady growth, 2018 was also marked by market research and a look into the development potential of the company, following which, a decision was made to embark on the development of new products and services, which will contribute to the diversification of the company's business.

Business cooperation includes the purchase of six ClubSwan36 sailing boats, and a range of marketing activities aimed at creating a recognisable image, regatta organisation, promotion and the creation of a tourism product aimed at raising the quality of ACI's services and the overall image of the Republic of Croatia as the world's leading nautical destination.

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The value of the transaction is estimated at approximately 21 million euro, which allegedly includes 7.5 million euro of debt.

In the first nine months of 2017,  ACI recorded 165.1 million kuna in total revenues.

ACI marina Dubrovnik Komolac will become the only marina on the Adriatic that has a cultural heritage of high value in their property, thanks to a grant from EU funds for the Project Skala, a renovation project of Ljetnikovac Sorkočević (summer house of Petar Sorkočević).