As Glas Istre/Duska Palibrk writes on the 8th of November, 2019, Rovinj is leading the way in investments in public infrastructure. Out of a total of about 10 million euros invested during the first half of this year, 4.6 million euros has been invested in paving the plateau at St. Euphemia and the Dapiran roundabout - Istarska street. In addition, the most important investments made in infrastructure include the reconstruction of Valpereri Street and the construction of the northern breakwater of Katarin in Rovinj.

This year and next year, about 120 million euros has been or will be invested in public tourism and other infrastructure across Istria. Most of this money comes from both city and municipal budgets, as well as from co-financing from the Ministry of Tourism and also from various European Union funds.

According to the data collected from the local self-government units by the County Administrative Department for Tourism, the record holder for investments is the city of Rovinj, Croatia's tourism champion. Of the almost 36.2 million euros of investments made during the first six months of this year, more than 32 million euros relates to Rovinj, which used this money to renovate new promenades and hiking trails.

The next most significant realised projects related to the tourist infrastructure are the arrangement of the Vižula Archaeological Park in Medulin, roads with parking in Labinci, car parks in Rabac and a visitors centre in Barban.

Rovinj also leads the way in investments in other types of public infrastructure. Out of a total of about 10 million euros invested during the first half of this year, 4.6 million euros was, as previously stated, invested in the paving of the plateau near the Church of St. Euphemia and the Dapiran roundabout - Istarska street.

In addition, the most important investments made in other areas of Istrian infrastructure are the reconstruction of Valpereri Street and the construction of the northern breakwater of Katarin in Rovinj, the reconstruction of the intersection at the entrance to Rabac and the Breg Ivanovci road in Labin, the reconstruction of the Zajerci - Draguć road in Cerovlje, and the Baštići - Gržići - Mill (Mlin) road in Grožnjan.

In the second half of the year, and by the end of 2019, more than 14 million euros worth of investments in tourism infrastructure and 22.3 million euros in other areas of public infrastructure are planned.

Rovinj is as such investing more than 10 million euros in bicycle lanes, road reconstruction, landfill and construction of the communal port of San Pelagio. A promenade by the sea is being built in Pula, the Tara oil mill is being built, the Šoht mining tower is being reconstructed in Labin, and the Arsia visitor centre is being set up in Raša.

By the end of the year, Rovinj will once again be steaming well ahead when it comes to investment in infrastructure with 6.6 million euros worth of investments in waste management facilities, storm sewers and road construction.

In addition, roads are being built within the Štrpa work zone with accompanying infrastructure in Brtonigla, in Funtana the old school is being transformed into a cultural/community centre and a kindergarten is being built in Gračišće. These are just a handful of the investments taking place in Rovinj which set it apart from the rest and make it an outstanding example to other cities across the country.

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With revenues up significantly after a rather negative business year in 2018, the third quarter was particularly successful for the Crikvenica-based company Jadran. In an explanation, Jadran's CEO Goran Fabris points out that this is largely the result of a new investment cycle.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes on the 6th of November, 2019, the hotel company Jadran from Crikvenica unfortunately experienced a negative business last year (publishing significant losses 13.9 million kuna), but in the first nine months of 2019, it recorded a turnaround: with 22 percent higher revenues compared to the comparable period, and it generated 22 million kuna net.

With revenues higher than 26 percent, the third quarter of 2019 was particularly successful for the Crikvenica company.

In the first phase, 106.5 million kuna was invested, which, along with increased competitiveness - increased the overall quality of services within the company and raised the category of accommodation in its hotels and camps, all of which enabled a justifiable increase in prices. The head of Jadran's board confirmed the continuation of the cycle in which further investments in the amount of 125 million kuna are planned by the beginning of next season.

This autumn, the company will continue to work on its luxury Katarina Hotel in Selce, the Omorika Hotel and the Ad Turres Resort Complex, and on the Selce campground. With the planned end of the cycle, the company will maintain its existing growth dynamics and gain the prerequisites for year-round operations. From Jadran, they hope that with the opening of the Katarina Hotel, it will become their first year-round hotel.

''In the consolidation of the company, we also paid great attention to increasing efficiency at all levels. That is why good results were reflected in our employees' earnings. In addition to the 6 percent incentive pay supplement, we also paid each employee an additional 1,000 kuna in bonuses for June, July and August,'' Fabris points out.

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As Glas Istre/Dubravko Grakalic writes on the 1st of November, 2019, Adris Group's operating results in the first three quarters of this year show a significant increase in revenues and great business development. In the first nine months of this year, Adris Group's total revenues amounted to a massive 4.92 billion kuna, which is 4 percent more than in the same period last year. Net profit amounts to 663 million kuna, which is 89 million kuna, or 12 percent less than last year.

Such business is the result of strong investment and acquisition activities in 2018 and 2019 with the aim of increasing the group's profitability and long-term sustainability.

In terms of business segments, Croatia Osiguranje is the leading company in the Croatian insurance market with a total share of 27.9 percent. The gross written premium, which includes foreign subsidiaries, stands at 2.7 billion kuna, up from last year's level.

Cromaris published sales of 6,761 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, up eight percent. The export markets recorded a nine percent increase in volume.

The tourist section of the Adris Group, Maistra, posted a 1 percent increase in the sale of accommodation units, with an increase in the average price of overnight stays of 6 percent, which led to a 7 percent increase in operating income. Net profit was also up by 4 percent

The current booking confirms the positive trends of revenue growth so far. Adris Group's last major acquisition, HUP-Zagreb, d.d., generated one percent higher operating revenue.

Currently, the strategic plan for the tourist part of the group for the period until 2024 is worth almost four billion kuna. The plan includes construction of new and the repositioning of existing facilities in all tourist destinations in Croatia in which Adris Group operates - Rovinj, Vrsar, Dubrovnik and Zagreb.

A formal completion of the process related to the Marjan Hotel in Split is also expected, which will allow Adris Group to enter this growing Croatian tourist destination.

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When we hear about investment in Croatian tourism, the cash injections usually come from abroad or at least from foreign accounts, but not always. Makarska is just one fine example.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 17th of October, 2019, Mate Jujnović, the owner of Promet Makarska and both the Makarska and Split bus stations, has purchased the company "Romana Apartmans" d.o.o. according to a recent report from Slobodna Dalmacija.

Project manager Marinko Sulić, who has so far sought partners from within Spain's famous "Iberostar", and later on Germany's equally well known "Der Touristik", managed to get the right partner with whom the story should get a safe and secure "happy ending" in no less than Mate Jujnović.

A few months ago, the very well known Dalmatian entrepreneur revealed to Kronika that he wanted to invest an enormous 35 million euros into Makarska, a picturesque, mountainous and extremely popular tourist destination in central Dalmatia, from the sale of some valuable land across the world in New Zealand, and apparently found the so-called ''golden goose'' in the aforementioned "Romana" hotel, which many consider to be the flywheel of tourism throughout not only the City of Makarska, but the heavily frequented Makarska Riviera, too.

As such, on September the 23rd this year, the director of the company ceased to be Robert Sulić, the son of Marinko Sulić.

An eye-watering cash injection of roughly twenty million euros should help Sulić complete the financial structure and come to the end of the grand hotel complex project, worth a massive sixty million euros in total. According to Sulić, the same Makarska facility boasting almost 270 beautiful luxury rooms should open its doors before the next summer tourist season begins, namely as early as May the 9th, 2020.

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As Novac/Dora Koretic writes on the 6th of August, 2019, judging by the documentation published in the Official Gazette, the reconstruction of the Plitvice Hotel located inside the much loved national park, an architectural building originally designed by Marijan Haberle (Croatian architect), will be carried out by the 3LHD architectural studio or the Arta Design (Projektiranja) firm from Zagreb.

Namely, the two companies were the only ones to submit a binding tender in the design documentation tender for the reconstruction of this now-neglected and dilapidated concrete ''specimen'' of post-war domestic modernist architecture, in which Plitvice National Park, according to the earlier announcement of director Tomislav Kovačević, plans to invest 100 million kuna and convert it to a boutique hotel.

As can be seen from the tender's details, a cheaper offer of 5.6 million kuna was submitted by 3LHD, while Arta Design's offer was 25,000 kuna more expensive. It remains to be seen whose conceptual solution for the renovation of the Plitvice Hotel will impress the management and the park experts the most.

Either way, both companies have a very good reference list when it comes to designing hotels.

Namely, Studio 3LHD is the company behind some of the most impressive Croatian hotels, such as Maistra's Lone Hotel and the latest investment by Hotel Park. On top of all that, there is also 3LHD's "foreign" business which is done over in China, where the Zagreb-based studio completed the LN Garden project in August last year, complete with 365 rooms in the popular Chinese city of Guangzhou.

Arta design, on the other hand, is behind the investments made by the Alhambra and Villa Augusta hotels in Lošinj, where Arta also worked on interior design, they also dealt with the interior design done in the well-known Lošinj Hotel Bellevue.

"It's correct that two bids have now arrived, and now it will take about a month to decide, so I think sometime in September we'll know who the author of the hotel's renovation will be. After that, we'll still have a lot of work to do, it will be followed by the announcement of another type of tender, so I don't thinks that the works will actually begin before winter next year, "said Plitvice National Park's director Tomislav Kovačević, adding that he hoped that the newly renovated hotel would open its doors to its first guests in 2021.

It's worth mentioning the fact that is the first major renovation of the park-owned hotel facilities in the last twenty years. This now unimpressive building was built in 1958 as the first Yugoslav A-category hotel. Over the years, unfortunately the hotel has been ''left to its own devices'' and been neglected quite a bit, as is evidenced by the fact that its official category is now at a mere two stars, which is why NP Plitvice's park management decided to restore it back to its old glory.

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Despite the rather unpromising weather that marked May and the very beginning of June, at the beginning of the month, Valamar's new camp received more than 1,500 guests, most of whom were Germans and Austrians.

As Borivoje Dokler/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of June, 2019, at the beginning of the month in Funtana, a Croatian village seven kilometres away from Poreč, the Istra Premium Camping Resort opened its doors to the public.

This is the first large Valamar five-star camp, which stretches across 37 hectares of land and can accommodate as many as 2,781 guests at any one time. Over the past two years, 280 million kuna has been invested into the project, making this, along with the five-star Valamar Collection Marea Suites, the most significant project for Valamar this year. Booking is going excellently and on the day ''camp opening day'', scheduled for the 27th of June, the camp will operating at full capacity.

Most of the guests appear to come from Germany and Austria, although it's still somewhat difficult to grasp the exact structure of guests to this Valamar facility. This camp, with its wide choice of luxury accommodation, can satisfy even the most demanding guests, from those looking for a nice plot facing the Adriatic sea, a modern camping home, to those wanting a luxury camping villa with its own private pool.

As far as prices are concerned, Valamar offers plots ranging from as little as 15 to as much as 119 euros, and when it comes to luxury accommodation, prices range from 58 to 567 euros. For example, for a glamping tent with a fully equipped kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms during the peak tourist season, it's necessary to allocate around 250 euros per day, while renting out the most expensive Camping Villas which can accommodate up to six people, you're looking at a price tag of above 500 euros.

The camp has a large number of entertainment facilities for children, of which Aquamar is particularly well known, it's a family water park with five pools and water attractions covering a total water surface of 1,030 square metres.

What is particularly refreshing about Valamar's new project is the large indoor entertainment zone with various playrooms, children's clubs and a large theater. The games are equipped with the Super Mario program and are adapted for children under three years of age, and then from three to seven and then seven to twelve years old.

In the centre of the camp is the central Piazza square (trg), which hosts the ''Musi&Fun'' program each and every night, and is surrounded by a number of small specialised shops and bars. Although they offer mostly high-quality products, the prices here don't really differ all that much from those you'd see in regular stores.

Up to now, Valamar has invested an enormous 5.8 billion kuna in Croatian tourism. Within the three-year growth and development strategy, a total of 2.5 billion kuna has been invested into its tourism portfolio, and more than 3 billion kuna has been invested in the expansion of the company's operations and acquisitions.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of June, 2019, the owners of the internationally famous beach clubs Blue Marlin and Nikki Beach want to open their first Croatian franchise in Novalja, at no less than Zrće beach.

In just one week, Croatia's famous Zrće beach is set to get a large new gastronomic-music club for adults over the age of 25.

This refers to club Nomad which will be jointly opened by the owner of the nearby club Papaya, Ivan Bušljeta, and Josip Klemm, at the site of the former Aquarius.

As has already been reported, the duo purchased Aquarius in spring this year, and back in March, they founded the company Projekt (Project) Nomad, building a new club.

As Bušljeta revealed, this new investment is worth about five million euros, and the club combines a combination of top-quality gastronomic services, deep-house, house, techno, tech house and other disco music with a relaxed club atmosphere.

When it comes to the actual design of the club, the duo were inspired by the style of those on the populat Greek island of Mykonos, and those responsible for the design and the realisation of it are Leskovar and Mi2 studio, and the club, according to Bušljeta, is undergoing its final stages, and because of that, no photographs of the progress are currently available.

Zrće beach's brand new club will operate as a beach bar, a restaurant and a nightclub with a two-hour cabaret show that will be held every night during the tourist season. Nomad will officially open at the Island Gathering Festival, which will be held in late June in cooperation with BSH events and Tanzen Kollektiv.

Nomad's owners have revealed that this is just be the beginning of the transformation of the famous (or infamous, as the case may be) Zrće beach.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of May, 2019, the saga with the former Cavtat ''Macedonia'' hotel could well have a happy end, Večernji list reports.

The story dates back to the year 2013 when a group of investors announced that the currently abandoned and devastated site will the luxury Aman resort built there. Things were of course rather complicated, which isn't remotely unusual, and in the meantime the ownership structure of the investor's company has changed, but the key player, Greek entrepreneur Petros Stathis, didn't think for even one moment to walk away from the planned and desired Cavtat investment.

Passionate about business and temperamental like any real Greek, he is the owner of several Aman hotels and resorts groups, including Aman Sveti Stefan in neighbouring Montenegro and over in Venice. Business wise, he's mostly focused on the Balkan region. He is active in both banking and real estate world and was even the director of the famous Athenian Football Club AEK.

Unlike many before him, the industrious Petros Stathis refused to give up on Croatia, and at the end of last year, in Croatia's southernmost town in the extreme south of Dalmatia, he intensified his efforts to finally get the project of Cavtat's Aman resort off the ground. Otherwise, Aman is a chain of luxury hotels in 34 locations in as many as 21 countries, and the first resort under that name was opened back in 1988 in Phuket.

Such resorts usually have only fifty rooms, and each guest is matched by four employees on average. In an interview with Vecernji list, Petros Stathis revealed that things really are finally getting going, being ''raised from the dead'' as it were, and that such a resort in Croatia, more precisely in Cavtat, is no longer just fiction.

Soon, you're coming to Croatia, does this mean that the Aman project in Cavtat is definitely going ahead?

I can say with pleasure, that the short answer to your question is yes!

I'm thrilled to be able to say that we've made progress and we expect the machines to return to their location at the end of this year. Otherwise, it was never the case whether or not the Aman Cavtat project would be realised or not, but as I mentioned before, we had a complicated beginning and we had to overcome many obstacles.

It's great, of course, to return to Croatia, but this project, believe me, is more than me. This is also about Croatia and our partners and people from this community. Our focus has always been on the future and the realisation of the resort in Cavtat so that the country could further profit through the Aman project, just how other countries have benefited from it. Whenever we start these types of projects, we want to complete it according to the plan, but it's rare that all factors are in our full control.

A project of such magnitude requires coordination and cooperation. We made a huge effort and we were lucky that we had positive support from many sides. Soon it will be six years ago since the construction of the luxury Aman resort at the location of the former Macedonia hotel in Cavtat was first announced, the first machines even arrived at the construction site, but soon after that it all stopped.

What made everything slow down over the last few years?

It's no secret that this project has a complex history. Since taking ownership of the site, we have been working hard and working with all involved parties to resume construction.

Why is Croatia interesting for you to invest in and is it easier to invest in Montenegro, for example?

As an international company, we always look globally.

Each country has a different approach to investment and development. I personally love your beautiful country and its people. I have strong family ties in Croatia and I've spent many happy moments here. Croatia is a wonderful country, rich in history, with beautiful nature and positive people with a positive business attitude that reaches international business boundaries. But the potential offered by Cavtat is the most attractive part of this story.

This is a great opportunity for us and will have a major role in current investments in Croatia. Our goal for Croatia is the same as for any other country in which we've built and invested, which is to create the best we can and leave a lasting, positive legacy of which the country can be proud. The goal of this project is to build the most beautiful resort in Croatia, in keeping with the environment and local infrastructure.

This opportunity is huge and we hope to act as a catalyst for further internal development in Croatia, now and also in the future. It's incredible when you think that more foreign tourists visit Croatia than, for example, Australia. And this is almost double the annual level. Tourism makes up more than 12 percent of Croatian GDP, and this money goes to local wages, through the construction of hotels and other related projects.

This country has a talented, entrepreneurial workforce. Half of the population speak English, but Italian and German are also spoken. And just look at the innovations you're responsible for! Everything, from chemical pencils to parachutes, bulbs, MP3 code, all created by Croats. It's time for Croatia to become more significant on the world stage, and we want to play a key role in that story.

What is the value of the investment in Cavtat and when will the new hotel be completed?

This is a huge 50 million euro project that will build the best of the best in Cavtat. This is our approach to building every resort. To provide the best. We wouldn't even launch the project if we couldn't achieve the best possible. This isn't just a hotel. This is an investment in the development and the future of Cavtat, through which we'll support local development, jobs and employment. We'll start with the works at the end of this year, and later on we'll inform you about our opening plan.

How will the Aman resort in Cavtat look and what will it offer to its guests?

Personally, I can hardly wait to see how it will look once when it's done. This is a new level of design and unification with the landscape, and local, natural materials will be used. If you look at any other Aman resort we've built, including the ones in Montenegro in Sveti Stefan, you'll get a very good idea of ​​what Aman Cavtat will be like.

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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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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of April, 2019, the Cerovac caves are some of the most interesting geomorphological attractions nature has to offer in Croatia, and the caves were originally set up for visitors back in 1951.

The ''Cerovac caves'' centre of excellence deals with the sustainable management of natural heritage and karst underground, and this new tourist project should be able to get completely off the ground in two to three years, writes Večernji list.

The Cerovac cave project is being carried by the the Velebit Nature Park public institution (JUPP Velebit) and the project's partners, which include the Zagreb Speleological Association, Zadar County and the public institution for the protection of nature of Zadar County, Natura Jadera.

''The total value of the project stands at 68.5 million kuna, out of which approximately 53 million kuna of non-refundable money is being granted by EU funds, and the rest of the money, along with that of the project's partners, will be provided by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy and the Environmental Protection Fund,'' stated the president of the Zagreb Speleological Association and historian Stipe Tutiš, who was immediately followed by architect Roman Šilje, who went on to explain the meaning behind and the ultimate goal of the whole project.

''In southeastern Velebit, in Crnopac just above Gračac, the largest natural speleological sight in the Dinaric karst, the Cerovac caves, can be found. So far, only the ipper and lower Cerovac caves were visible and accessible, but owing to the passage of time and to the Homeland War, they remained neglected. Therefore, Croatian speleologists, as the initiators of this project, have begun with all of their other partners to return to this unique karst phenomenon and give it the importance it deserves, so, back in 2010, we started with the development of this project. Five years later, the project documentation got started, which was funded by the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund.

In October 2016, the project was submitted to the Operational Program for Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020. The evaluation lasted from October 2016 to April last year, and on April the 4th, 2018, around one year ago, an agreement was signed with the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds,'' concluded Šilje.

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