March 6th, 2022 - Jadran Crikvenica investments which have been being pumped into this hotel company will now finally result in pay rises for employees.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the company Jadran Crikvenica will increase its staff salaries by 12 percent from April the 1st this year, as was agreed between the social partners of the Trade Unions of Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia and STUH with that company's administration.

In addition, workers in hotel operations for the most intensive period of the season, ie from June the 1st to September the 30th, will have their net salaries increased by six percent, and all workers for the months of June, July and August will be paid an additional bonus of 1,000 kuna per month, or, depending on how well the season goes, payment is possible for September as well. The move follows intensive Jadran Crikvenica investments.

Recognising the concerning continuous increase in fuel prices, it was agreed to increase the transport fees, and in addition to workers with a contract of indefinite duration, the right to additional health insurance, which includes an annual preventive systematic examination (with any needed treatment), will now be exercised by permanent seasonal workers. as well as workers with an employment contract lasting one year or more.

Depending on the course of the season and the results achieved, by the end of the year, Jadran Crikvenica investments will result in additional sums of cash being paid out, such as Christmas bonuses, holiday pay, kids' bonuses and so on.

As was pointed out in a recent announcement from the Trade Union, with such an increase in salaries and other agreed material rights of workers, Jadran d.d. Crikvenica has approached the salary amount of workers in major tourism companies across the Republic of Croatia, after years of stagnation due to bankruptcy and a period of recovery after bankruptcy, when the greater focus was primarily placed on investment in facilities and less in staff.

"If it weren't for the coronavirus pandemic, we're convinced that workers' salaries and working conditions would be even better. At SIKD, we're satisfied with the agreement reached, especially due to the new circumstances which have arisen in Europe. We expect that the tourist season will be good, and we believe that this is just the beginning of a step forward in a significant increase in wages and other material rights, and that the Jadran Crikvenica has finally become a recognisable and desirable company, not only for tourists but also for workers,'' they said from the union.

For more, check out our business section.

March the 5th, 2021 - Jadran Crikvenica stood out during a difficult 2020 for its continued business expansion despite the less than favourable economic circumstances which saw many other companies shelve planned investments and put their keys in their locks. How do things stand now?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the Crikvenica-based hotel company Jadran was saved from bankruptcy´s proverbial jaws. After that, and after going through all of the associated pre-bankruptcy agony, it was privatised under the ownership of two pension funds and is currently facing a unique challenge, very well known in the Croatian hotel industry to smaller entities.

As touched on above, during the difficult pandemic-dominated year of 2020, Jadran Crikvenica was one of the few large Croatian hotel companies to significantly expand its business capacities, partly through the long-term lease of new capacities and partly through the reconstruction of existing capacities started back in 2019.

Could that fateful decision now end up firing back at them like a boomerang? Possibly. The treatment of new units when it comes to being permitted state aid for job preservation is not yet known and it is doubtful whether the development will be treated positively in order for the company to use this measure in the continuation of business activities in rented facilities for the Easter period. Perhaps it is better not to begin working yet, in the case that the turnover of accommodation units which were not in use back in 2019 is not excluded from the company´s income.

All these investments bring greater competitiveness and higher prices, and thus the comparison of revenues in 2019 and 2021 should be taken with a grain of salt. Things, under these dire circumstances, continue to sit firmly in the hands of the state, which would have no real negative effects if Jadran Crikvenica, as well as other such smaller entities in the tourism industry, were to be approved such measures, because if there was no lease agreement, the financial aid would be paid out to the actual hotel owners.

The high level of indebtedness of the parent company and the Jadran Group does not jeopardise current liquidity, but it is a logical business interest that the capacity for hotel business within Jadran Crikvenica, which increased by 25 percent last year in the sense of solid capacity and more than 17 percent in terms of total capacity, do not just sit there empty.

They still have a lot of units of lower categories, but for the second year in a row they have to consider the Lisanj Hotel in Novi Vinodolski, which will have 220 accommodation units, and the Garden Palace Resort in Umag with 109 such units. Hotel Noemia in Baska Voda also has 63 4-star accommodation units.

All these new capacities were created as a classic "green feel" or through the reconstruction of existing old capacities of a lower category. These are facilities that are new, and were taken out on a long-term lease precisely in order to create the preconditions for extending the tourist season, and thus enable the better use of existing resources, with an emphasis on the employment of permanent workers.

While the Esplanade Hotel in Crikvenica opened its doors this Monday, for the hotels in Novi Vinodolski and Umag, as they claim, management wants the same because of the high quality and the fact that they are located in destinations one can more or less easily drive to.

"By opening up these facilities, we want to send out the message that we are here, we´re present on the market, and that we are above all else confident in these new circumstances, and that is why we want to enter the market as soon as possible," said Jadran Crikvenica´s CEO Goran Fabris.

With the earlier opening of these facilities, new revenue wil be generated, the local tourist board will be able to collect the sojourn/tourist tax, the state will get its VAT, and employees will actually be able to do some work, which brings with it higher salaries. However, the prices realised in the early season are not at the level of those in the peak of it, so profitability is naturally reduced. Looking exclusively through the glasses of maths, sometimes it is better not to work and exercise the right to grants instead, than to work and lose that right entirely.

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