March 14, 2022 -  At the beginning of March, about 20 hotels in Central Dalmatia were currently for sale. A closer look at the hotels on offer from Split to Brač and Omiš.  

Hotels make up a small percentage of the Croatian real estate market and, unlike residential properties, do not arouse the general public's interest.

The exceptions are, of course, significant transactions, such as when Eagle Hills Zagreb Real Estate bought a 70 percent stake in Sunce Hoteli, owned by Jako Andabak's family. However, this does not mean that this part of the market is not attractive, both in supply and demand and the level of asking prices. Slobodna Dalmacija digs into the situation in Split-Dalmatia County.

At the beginning of March, the real estate portal Njuškalo offered about twenty hotels located on the islands and the coast. 

Two are currently for sale in Split, one in the city center with 13 rooms and an asking price of two million euros, and the other in Bačvice for 1.2 million euros. In Supetar on Brač, a mini-hotel is on offer for 1.6 million euros, while a boutique hotel in Bol is going for 2.7 million euros.

In Seget Donji, Villa "Panorama" is for sale for 2.2 million euros and a hotel in Dugi Rat for 2.9 million euros. In Podstrana, the asking price for the hotel built in 2017 is 3.3 million euros.

There is no lack of hotels in the Trogir and Čiovo area. One apart-hotel is asking 2.1 million euros, and a second with 11 rooms is going for 2.5 million euros. In Okrug Gornji on Čiovo, a six-story hotel is on offer for 1.8 million euros.

"There are always hotels for sale, but not placed on the website, so the actual offer is much higher," commented Jasminka Biliškov from the agency "Biliškov nekretnine," president of the Real Estate Association at the Split County Chamber of Commerce and vice president at the national level, adding that only her agency is currently mediating the sale of ten facilities located in different parts of the county, but none have been publicly announced.

"Part of the owners do not advertise the sale but hire agencies that will do the job discreetly, in a way that the owner of the hotel changes, without even knowing it," Biliškov explains.

According to her, there is interest in buying, but not excessively, which is confirmed by the advertised hotels having been on sale for some time.

The reason to sell is that some owners no longer want to engage in this activity and have other priorities. At the same time, potential buyers see that there is no quick profit in the hotel industry, that work is reduced to a few months a year, and that they need another source of income, such as a good restaurant.

However, hotels for sale have excellent occupancy for several months and bring profit to their owners. One such example is a hotel in Makarska with a well-established business, with an asking price of 3.35 million euros. Unofficially, Slobodna learns that the owners live abroad, are about to retire, and their descendants have no interest in engaging in this activity.

Hotel management is also a family business in Nemira near Omiš, where an apart-hotel with a restaurant and a swimming pool is going for 2.3 million euros. The owners are older and need help with their work, and as it is challenging to find workers, it was best to sell. 

"I do not know why hotel "Lipa" in Postira is for sale, but I can tell you that it is sold for 4.8 million euros," said Mario Špičić from the agency "Marlimat Nekretnine" in Zagreb, adding that they had only two or three inquiries, even though the sale notice was forwarded abroad.

This is a common practice when a potential buyer from other countries applies to invest in the hotel industry and requests a state of supply in the market.

"The reason may be the price, given the capacity it offers, is high for negotiations," Špičić says, and emphasizes that the most sought-after land this spring is in camps.

When asked if the number of hotels on the market is known and for what reasons, Špičić replied:

"As far as we know, they are all more or less for sale; only they have not been announced. The condition of the sale is a reasonable price.

Gone are the days when hotels were a family business. Now, the situation is entirely different. First of all, it's not that someone needs the money. There is no force to sell, it was not the pandemic, and for now, it is not the war in Ukraine.

Today, the approach to sales is simple: 'I invested in a hotel, made a business, sold it and went on with another business," he added.

According to the data published on the County Tourist Board website, there were 276 hotels in 2020, including subdivisions such as apart-hotels, hotels, boarding houses, heritage hotels. Out of this, there are 170 hotels, most of them with four stars (111), then three stars (88), and one with one star. It is unofficial that last year the number rose to 280 hotels.

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February 20th, 2022 - The new hotel should have 150 rooms and suites, as well as a residential part with 115 apartments that will make up a 'mini city' complete with restaurants, bars and shops

It’s been a long time coming, but it seems that construction works are finally about to begin on the old Maraska building in Zadar. The former factory is to be transformed into a high-category Hotel Hyatt with an addition of a residential area, owned by the Turkish Dogus Group.

As reported by Slobodna Dalmacija, a source from the Dogus Group said that cleanup works are underway on the grounds of the old building, to be followed by securing the structure which is in extremely poor condition.

‘Seeing that the structure is really old and neglected, we’ll have to secure it first, and then, in ten days or so, we’ll have an official opening of the construction site where all Zadar media will be invited’, said the source, adding that everyone at the Dogus Group is looking forward to construction kicking off.

‘We’re very pleased to finally be able to announce we’re moving forward! Starting from today, there’ll be no more waiting or holdups, and we hope we’ll soon make the people of Zadar proud with the new hotel which will surely stimulate tourism on a higher level’, said the source. 

The investment is worth €120 million, and the hotel should have around 150 rooms and suites, a spa, a wellness centre, a conference hall, restaurants and bars. The development will also have a residential area with 115 apartments making up a ‘mini city’ together with restaurants, bars, shops and other attractive facilities.

Construction of the new hotel was originally supposed to begin in 2016, but was delayed due to complications in the development of the other part of the hotel complex. The Dogus Group together with Hyatt had to wait for the situation to clear up in regards to urban planning in the area around the hotel. They’re participating in the tender for Marina Zadar, and it remains to be seen if they managed to resolve the matter.

Hyatt Zadar - Dogus Group

The Dogus Group is one of the bigger foreign investors in Croatia, namely in nautical facilities in Šibenik, Sukošan and Zadar. Representatives of the Croatian subsidiary of the Turkish group have stated once before that the company invested around 270 million euro in Croatian tourism in the ten years they’ve been doing business in Croatia.

In mid-2019, the company Crodux, formerly owned by Tankerkomerc, announced its intention to build a large development near the Maraska building, namely in the area from the Tankerkomerc administrative building to the marina of the same name. This Dogus group has confirmed this as one of the reasons for the delays in the Maraska project.

At one point, Dogus also planned to take partial ownership of Tankeromerc and merge the Maraska Hotel project with Marina Zadar, but the pre-bankruptcy settlement fell through once it turned out that Tankerkomerc wasn’t a confirmed future concessionaire of the marina and that the story was far from over.

The state will soon take possession of Marina Zadar, based on a final judgement in their dispute with Tankerkomerc that was launched about ten years ago.

Tankerkomerc believes that it should be the owner of the marina on the basis of many years of ownership, operation and investments in the facility, and the state disputes this because the marina is considered to be maritime property.

According to the latest verdict from January 2020, the marina should have been returned to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, but Tankerkomerc, which was taken over by General Ivan Čermak in the meantime, filed an appeal that has since been resolved in favour of the Ministry.

Tankerkomerc also has a dispute with the state concerning the return on their investments in the marina in the amount of €40 million.

January 14, 2022 - The largest independent travel web portal in Germany, HolidayCheck, has recognized seven Croatian hotels with the HolidayCheck Special Award for their top-quality offer, service, and great reviews from guests.

HolidayCheck provides reservations based on guest reviews, as well as up-to-date information on destinations around the world.

All hotels have to meet a series of strict criteria in order to enter the competition for the award. One of the stricter conditions for winning this award was the high level of recommendations of hotel visitors, which exceeds 90 percent. The survey was conducted based on 360,000 reviews of 2021 vacations, and a total of 619 hotels in 27 countries boast this recognition.

According to HrTurizam, seven Croatian hotels that have been recognized with the "HolidayCheck Special Award": Hotel Plaza Duće, Miramar in Opatija, Valamar Padova on Rab, Bretanide Sport & Wellness Resort in Bol on Brač, Valamar Parentino in Poreč, Aminess Maestral in Novigrad, and in seventh place is the Plaza Hotel in Omiš.

“This award is a great achievement for the entire team of the Aminess Maestral Hotel, without which such success would not have been possible. We want to provide our guests with an unforgettable holiday experience and service at the highest possible level at all times. We are proud that our guests recognized and rewarded it. Each of their praises encourages us to be even better", said the director of Aminess Maestral Hotel Mateo Žiković and added that with this important award, the travel company Aminess and Aminess Maestral Hotel once again confirmed that their service guaranteed to every guest is extremely high.

Aminess facilities have won a number of prestigious awards and recognitions that testify to their top-quality offer, service, and high guest satisfaction.

Under the Aminess brand, there are hotels, campsites, and villas of high category in Novigrad in Istria, Krk, Korčula, Pelješac, and recently in Makarska. It is a total of 13 hotels, 4 camps with more than 450 mobile homes, 92 apartments, and 80 villas, which can accommodate more than 13,000 guests daily.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

ZAGREB, 19 July 2021 - The Terme Sveti Martin hotel in Međimurje is the first hotel in Croatia to receive the EU Ecolabel after it met the relevant 22 criteria about general management, energy efficiency, the use of renewable resources, rational water consumption, reduced waste, and proper waste management.

Tourism Minister Nikolina Brnjac presented the EU Ecolabel to the hotel's director Igor Nekić at a ceremony held on Monday in the hotel located in the town of Sveti Martin na Muri, the ministry said on Monday.

The EU Ecolabel is approved by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development for products and services that motivate innovations and contribute to the aim of the EU's climate neutrality by 2050 and the circular economy.

Congratulating the hotel on that important step towards sustainable business and a sustainable destination, Minister Brnjac recalled that market surveys around the world have shown that guests no longer look for massive tourism but that they prefer sustainable and ecologically aware destinations that provide an authentic experience and an active vacation and services providing health tourism which comprehends spas and wellness treatments.

She said that the government encourages and invests in developing green and sustainable tourism through its National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Multiannual Financial Framework.

The Terme Sveti Martin comprises the hotel, apartments, a wellness center, and other amenities. There are more than 200 people employed in this establishment.

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April 20, 2021 - Several special hotel offers in Croatia are being announced as another pandemic season is on the horizon. 

Slobodna Dalmacija writes that in another uncertain pandemic year, the COVID-hit industry is adjusting to supply, price, and, above all, health security, which is the focus of every trip. Hotel houses are trying to tempt guests to stay as long as possible with various offers.

"Royal Hotels & Resort" opened its doors to domestic guests in the spring, who came last year in the peak season.

"Considering the situation, we are more flexible with the prices that have already been adjusted, and for our guests coming from Ploče, Split, Varaždin, or Osijek, for a four-night stay, we offer a deduction of toll costs between Zagreb - Dubrovnik. More precisely, we will take off 520 kuna from the total price," says the marketing director of that hotel group, Petar Krvarić.

If the guest stays for two nights, the deduction is 260 kuna. An invoice is not required for this offer and is valid from 1 May to 30 June. It is also possible to pay in installments for guests staying for one or ten nights, in April or August. This offer is offered to those that bank with Zagrebačka banka and Privredna banka Zagreb, and can pay installments for certain types of cards.

"In April and May, depending on availability, we offer a free upgrade from a four-star hotel to a five-star hotel just for domestic guests in the preseason. The response is already quite good," says Krvarić. This means that a guest who has booked and paid for a double room can upgrade to an apartment. Reservations are also flexible, so the guest can cancel for free three days before their arrival in the spring or change the reservation date.

For guests booking directly, free parking is provided. There is a strong emphasis on guest safety, so they are talking to “multiple clinic partners to enable both tests, antigen and PCR tests" during the season.

"Guests from the US will need a PCR test; we need to have that too. We have not fully defined the model, but we are working to provide this to guests, either in the form of a better price or as an addition in added value," says Krvarić. He also notes that "Royal Hotels & Resort" has completed the construction of about a hundred new accommodation units ready by summer.

"Hotel Lero invests a lot in the safety and health of guests and staff. All our guests have the possibility of antigen testing inside the facility," says the sales director of the hotel "Lero" Ivan Galov. An antigen test is possible every day within the facility for two hours a day, and you can also come by invitation. The private institution charges guests 150 kuna for testing.

"For foreign guests, we have a special offer to refund the price of the antigen test that is necessary to enter Croatia. In the pre-season, we went with it for the BiH market, and we will see which other countries to cover," says Galov and adds:

"In the pre-season, we especially offer domestic guests subsidies for the cost of the highway, for a stay of three nights in one direction and both directions for a stay of five or more. We also have an additional package of a free transfer from the airport for guests. Prices for this year are balanced between 2019 and 2020," says Galov, and "flexibility in booking ranges from 20 days for groups to 1 day for individual guests."

"All hotels of the Adriatic Luxury Hotels Group are holders of the Safety certificate - a program for risk prevention and health protection to ensure that all appropriate health, safety, and hygiene conditions are established, and the level of safety of employees, guests, and business conditions is provided," says Zrinka Marinović, spokeswoman for Adriatic Luxury Hotels and adds:

"Adriatic Luxury Hotels, in cooperation with relevant institutions, have the opportunity to test their guests who request such a service, and we recently had experience with corporate groups for which we organized antigen testing. We plan to offer such practice to our clients even further, i.e., while there is interest in such a service."

There are currently two hotels from the ALH group, "Excelsior" and "Palace."

Sales Director of "Rixos Premium Dubrovnik" Sandra Urlić emphasizes that after the renovation, they are positioned as a luxury brand. Despite the uncertain season, they will not lower the prices of hotel accommodation.

"We target high-paying guests. This year, we are focused on the EU, Russia, Israel, and all other destinations that will have a direct flight with Dubrovnik. During the winter, we paid great attention to internal staff education and professional training, as well as protocols and the national safety label "Safe Stay in Croatia," says Urlić.

Valamar Riviera responds that all Valamar facilities have implemented the "V Health & Safety" program, which is in line with safety standards in Croatia and the recommendations of international health organizations.

"All Valamar facilities have a V Health & Safety Manager who is available to guests throughout their stay, and we have created a V Care guarantee - a new package of health care measures," explained Valamar and added that this package is valid for all reservations made directly through Valamar.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, "Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik" offers the possibility of testing at the request of the guest, and a room is provided for that in the hotel, points out marketing clerk Mia Miloslavić, and emphasizes that and the package that can be reserved can be.

As for the benefits, guests can choose between different packages and choose the one that will give them the best value for money.

"There are options that include dinner, additional Hilton points for members, discounts for longer stays, and the like. Included in the price of the room is parking in our garage, swimming pool, and gym. A major change is the cancellation period which has been reduced from 7 and 14 days to 24 hours to make it easier for guests to plan a trip without additional stress.

You can find the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

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March 22, 2021 - It's increasingly likely that there will be no Easter tourism in Croatia this year as the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across Europe.

Although no one seriously counted on tourist traffic for Easter, which falls relatively early this year, the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic that is spreading across Europe has sunk the last hopes for the arrival of foreign tourists in Croatia, reports Poslovni.hr.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Croatian tourism will obviously rely almost exclusively on domestic guests in this pre-season. Still, the current epidemiological situation does not promise much here either.

Although it was announced earlier, there will be no 'Vacation-Worthy Week' campaign this spring, as it has been postponed to the fall. The Cro-card did not pick up as planned, either. 

Part of the hotels, or a total of about 1,100 in Croatia, will try to open their doors. 

One of the larger hotel houses selling Easter packages is Aminess hotels and camps, which announced the opening of facilities in Novigrad and on the island of Krk.

The Aminess Maestral Hotel in Novigrad will be the first to open its doors this Friday, March 26, while the nearby Aminess Sirena camp will open on April 1. The first guests will be welcomed on April 1 at Aminess Atea Camping Resort and Aminess Gaia Green Villas in Njivice on Krk.

“Aminess hotels and camps will present a unique gourmet offer this Easter holiday, which will be further enriched with the award-winning Aminess olive oil Vergal for all lovers of Istrian delicacies. We look forward to the first guests at our tourist destinations this year.

The year behind us was challenging, but we are optimistic about the future," says Mladen Knežević, Sales and Marketing Director of Aminess, whose facilities have been awarded the Safe Stay in Croatia label.

An Easter opening was also announced by Poreč's Plava laguna, which will try to fill its facilities with domestic guests by joining the Croatian tourist card (Cro Card) project.

From now on, all holders of the Cro Card will receive a 10 percent discount at Plava Laguna facilities and the mobile homes in the Istracamping campsites.

"We are glad that we got involved in this project to encourage our local guests to spend their holidays in Croatia.

Plava Laguna has facilities in Poreč, Umag, and Rijeka, so we invite all those interested to use their tourist cards for their weekend vacations or their summer vacation in our facilities. Guests can choose accommodation in one of our four resorts, 25 hotels or 13 suites.

The Cro Card is a great project that encourages domestic tourism, which is extremely important to us in this pandemic time, especially because other European countries will want to keep domestic guests in their countries," said Plava Laguna.

However, for now, they still have nothing to look forward to when it comes to realizing the Cro Card because this project is still in its infancy, largely due to the pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, from July 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, a total of 15,507 transactions were realized. Only 2728 tourist cards were issued by the Croatian Postal Bank (HPB) in the mentioned period.

As it is known, the Croatian tourist card is a project of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to increase the consumption of Croatian citizens in catering and tourist facilities throughout Croatia.

Employers can pay up to HRK 2,500 of non-taxable income per year to their employees, and the tourist cardholder can cover their costs for using services and products within the tourist offer during the year. They can top up the card with their own money and use discounts.

The 'Vacation-Worthy Week' campaign, implemented by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports in cooperation with the Croatian National Tourist Board, will be delayed to the post-season, guided by the idea that the most important thing now is to contribute to a favorable epidemiological situation through responsible behavior to achieve the best possible results in the peak part of the tourist year, said the Ministry.

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February the 2nd, 2021 - Croatian hotel owners have their sights set past Easter, focusing on the upcoming 2021 summer tourist season which is hopefully miles better than the disaster that was 2020.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, while in normal years, Croatian hotel owners would have their hands full with looking for manpower for the summer season ahead and polishing up seasonal facilities to start work on Easter weekend or on May the 1st, right now ,most of them don’t know when they can open their doors at all.

Although a few weeks ago they announced through the Croatian Tourism Association that they were ready to open from Easter onwards, in the meantime, a good part of the market has entered a total closure due to mutated strains of the virus appearing and vaccination not quite going as planned.

As mentioned above, the process of procuring vaccines that was supposed to speed up the end of the pandemic has stalled, which also affects the enthusiasm of guests, so the concern is currently greater than it was about a month ago.

The biggest dilemma which lies in front of Croatian hotels is the current need to weigh up the cost-effectiveness of opening their doors, which is a criterion to study even in the best years. Easter falls early in 2021, at the very beginning of April, and as such they need to figure out how to bridge it until May the 1st and then until Pentecost at the end of May, when the swimming season is already starting.

Tourist consultant Sinisa Topalovic warned the public about this last week, and as we reported, he believes that tourist traffic in the pre-season in 2021 is illusory to expect.

There are no concrete plans yet...

Therefore, Croatian hotel owners have already focused on the summer season in terms of their marketing, for which they're offering discounts and various combinations to attract guests to push the button right now and book their holidays for summer. In the meantime, they are trying to fill the facilities that are intended for year-round operation and are open despite very low tourist traffic.

Valamar currently has only one hotel open, Diamant from Porec, and two camping resorts in Istria and Krk. On the eve of Easter, they plan to open only three of their hotels, Porec's Marea Suites, Padua on Rab and President down in Dubrovnik, as well as eight camps in Istria and Kvarner.

Other facilities are planned to open successively, depending on the state of booking, as is the case with Plava Laguna/Blue Lagoon, which has three hotels open, Molindrio in Porec, Melia Coral in Umag and Bonavia in Rijeka. At the moment, their traffic is mostly made up of sports groups, but they have no concrete plans to open in the spring yet, their plans to open depend entirely on demand.

The company Sunce Hotels encourages its guests to direct their summer booking where they will receive a guarantee of the best offer, now they have a special offer in which they offer a 35 percent discount on early bookings. On their website, the calendar only opens from April the 30th, and they decided to start work on May the 1st, but only in part of the hotel. Solaris has opened for early booking, but only for mobile homes and villas.

The smaller Croatian hotel owners are the most flexible

Due to the nature of the business, small hotels are somewhat more flexible in their decision-making, as it is easier to fill 10 rooms instead of 500 of them.

The Istrian wine hotel San Canzian recently informed its guests on social media that it opens the season on March the 19th, Boskinac from Pag is urging its guests to book their places now, because they have already sold out all the rooms for Valentine's Day.

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January 15, 2021 – The renowned Swiss portal HolidayCheck awarded the prestigious HolidayCheck Special Award 2021. Among 607 awarded hotels, there were also two Croatian hotels – Hotel Miramar in Opatija and Hotel Plaža Duće in Dugi Rat.

As reported by Nera Miličić, head of the Croatian National Tourist Board in Munich, the best and most successful hotels in as many as 35 countries have been selected according to more than 420 thousand reviews from portal users. In Croatia, the award was given to the Miramar Hotel in Opatija and the Hotel Plaža Duće in Dugi Rat.

"As an indicator of guest satisfaction in the world, the HolidayCheck portal is a benchmark that guests use with confidence to check the quality of accommodation. The award ceremony once again shows the specificity of the tourist year behind us. Also, it classifies our hotels and Croatia as a destination that stands out with its offer even in challenging pandemic conditions," said Miličić.

As the entire hospitality sector faced extraordinary circumstances, certain adjustments were made to the HolidayCheck award. The minimum qualification criteria were at least 25 published reviews for the hotel from December 1, 2019, to November 30, 2020, at least 90 percent of user recommendations and adherence to the HolidayCheck Code of Conduct.

Source: Croatian National Tourist Board

Among the hotels that meet these criteria, only the ten most popular hotels from a particular region can win the award. In addition to custom criteria, this year's award has a new design and is called "HolidayCheck Special Award 2021."

The HolidayCheck portal is the largest independent travel web portal in the German-speaking area. Based on authentic reviews, of which almost 10 million have been published on the hotels alone, it enables reservations and reviews of numerous offers. The portal offers a range of important and up-to-date information on destinations around the world. It attaches the most significant importance to the reviews of the travelers who have stayed in a place.

Thanks to authentic reviews and expert advice, every tourist can find and book the best vacation for themselves in locations worldwide. The portal has been operating since 2003 and is headquartered in Bottighofen, Switzerland, near the German border town of Constance.

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August 20, 2019 - Hotels in Dalmatia achieve the best results after experts analyze the success of hotels in Croatia for Slobodna Dalmacija. 

“Hoteliers did well in the first half of the year according to all available data, and according to the announcements, this trend continues in July and August. I think 2019 will be a very good business year for hoteliers in terms of revenue, and those with 4 and 5 stars did better in the first six months of this year than last year.

The specificity of this peak season is that it is asymmetrical, it has shifted in 15 days in terms of time, business and traffic for a lot of reasons, but it will not significantly affect the operation of hotels. There is a trend that 4 and 5-star hotels are doing fantastic, and those who are worse off and have not seen an investment are operating in a market that is looking for lower prices, so their financial results are significantly worse. Because you cannot get a customer with higher-spending power if you have poor quality,” says professor Zdenko Cerović, a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija, who co-authored the Benchmarking (Business Analysis) study of the Croatian hotel industry until the beginning of July this year.

Together with him, hotel operations in the first part of this year were also analyzed by Dr. Sandra Janković and Sonja Hvaliček.

The material analyzes the operations of 114 Croatian hotels from all coastal regions and the continental part of the country, with a total of 23,500 rooms, which is more than 40 percent of the total hotel capacity in Croatia. Data on occupancy, prices, revenues and earnings were found for 25 hotels in Istria, 26 in Kvarner, 46 in four Dalmatian counties and 17 continental hotels. Key revenue management indicators by region say that in June alone, as in the first six months of this year, hotels in Dalmatia are doing the best. 

In June, they achieved an average price of 139 euro per room, which is 15 euro more than hotels in Istria and almost 40 euro more than hotels in Kvarner. Also, the total income per night in hotels is the highest in Dalmatia - in June, it was 103 euro per night, which is 16 euro more than the average of Croatia. In the same month, the income in Istrian hotels per night was 80 euro, while in Kvarner 77 euro, according to the data. 

“Such financial results are completely logical given that Dalmatia has a long season and good prices in hotels, and a great deal has been invested in hotels in Zadar, Šibenik, the Split region, the Makarska Riviera, and the islands to Dubrovnik. Dalmatia has made a step up in the quality of its hotel offer in a number of hotel houses, followed by good prices, the growing season, and good income. Since April, the monthly accommodation revenue per available hotel room in Dalmatia has been the highest in the country due to the highest average room rates,” explains Cerović of this year's hotel business in Croatia.

Asked if the revenue of hotels would be affected by the fact that part of their capacity was put into "last-minute" sales at lower prices due to slow sales, Cerović replied that this would not affect the hotel’s income because it didn’t happen often enough to affect their earnings.

“Although the story of the need to invest in quality in our tourism is already known, all the way to birds on branches, nevertheless, the exact data best confirm how significant the value for money is in revenue. Specifically, revenue management indicators by the category of the hotel in the survey show that total revenue per night is by far the highest in 5-star hotels, reaching 154.20 euro per night in June. At the level of all six months, it is 114 euro per night, and for comparison, the revenue per night in 4-star hotels in June was 80 euro, while in 3-star hotels it was 49.5 euro. And the average room price also depended on the category of accommodation, so in June, 5-star hotels sold for 206 euro on average, 4-star hotels had an average price of 103 euro, and 3-star hotels in June had an average price of 67.4 euro. 

This does not mean, of course, that Croatia should have only the highest category hotels, but the 3-star hotels must be modernly decorated, equipped and renovated, and thus can achieve better prices and higher revenues in its category, experts say. Guests want to know that they have not overpaid, and everyone goes into a financially monitored category and looks for the best service for that category. Nobody can say today ‘it doesn't matter what kind of hotel I am, I will always have guests’, because that is no longer the case, as the financial results of investing in hotels and resting on laurels show best. "

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 4th of May, 2019, Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava and the CEO of the Swiss company Immo Invest Partner, Džek Djordić, signed a contract on the sale of the Dunav (Danube) Hotel in Vukovar on Saturday, and the Swiss company has thus announced the construction of a new four-star hotel, in which it will invest a massive 200 million kuna.

"This is a strategically important property in Vukovar, the building of the former Dunav Hotel, which has attracted a lot of interest from the public," stated Penava, pointing out that the building is located in an extremely valuable location at the very mouth of the Vuka along the Danube, but also because it involves a building that has not been in function for nine years now.

He added that the city, owing to the fact that the hotel had remained totally out of use for a long time, bought the former Hotel Dunav in order to sell it to a hotel business that had already established its branch office in Vukovar. The city will do everything to make the investor feel welcome with their investment which is strategic and considered to be at the state-level.

Deputy Mayor Marijan Pavliček recalled that the City of Vukovar had purchased Hotel Dunav for 10.3 million kuna, while a price of 10.7 million kuna was asked for at the public tender, and the aforementioned Swiss company offered 11.3 million kuna and paid the difference in accordance to the higher requested price.

"The investors are obliged to collect all of the necessary permits in the next eighteen months after which the parcel will be handed over to their ownership, after which a seven-year legal deadline for the construction and commissioning of the facility comes into force," Pavliček said, adding that the investors have promised a significantly shorter implementation deadline, more specifically until the year 2023.

Pavliček emphasised the fact that this is the biggest investment after the Homeland War in the tourist sector of Vukovar, which will open up welcome new jobs.

Immo Invest Partner's CEO Džek Djordić announced the construction of a four-star hotel with about 120 rooms, 240 beds, and which will include several restaurants, offices and a multimedia space in which about 200 million kuna will be invested, and the hotel should be open in 2023.

Immo Invest Partner Board Member Petar Đorđić thanked the mayor and his deputy for their engagement in the realisation of this deal and said that all those involved are great optimists and that the entire investment will be realised within the anticipated deadline.

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