ZAGREB, 29 April (2022) - The Valamar Riviera hotel company generated HRK 59.5 million in operating revenues in Q1 2022, up 97% year-on-year, with an increase of 147,000 in overnight stays, or 192%, the company said in a financial statement on Friday, announcing a return to the occupancy rate from 2019 this year.

Total revenues reached HRK 74.8 million, up 119% on the year.

"In Q1 2022, Valamar Riviera achieved results comparable to 2019, continuing the positive trend of tourism recovering to the pre-pandemic level," Croatia's largest tourist company said.

In that period, total expenditures reached nearly HRK 314 million, so the group ended Q1 with a loss of HRK 199.85 million.

Investments for the 2022 season in hotels, summer resorts and camps amount to about HRK 530 million and are an important driver of growth and positive expectations, the company said.

Among the largest investment projects is the investment by Imperial Riviera of HRK 67 million in the repositioning of the Dalmacija hotel in Makarska, whose opening is planned for mid-May.

The investments of Helios Faros are worth HRK 220 million and are related to the construction of the Valamar Amicor Green Resort and Aquamar pool complex on the island of Hvar.

Other investments for this season include the renovation of the hotel Corinthia in Baška on the island of Krk in the Valamar brand Sunny Plus, improving service quality at the Valamar Bellevue Hotel in Rabac, the construction of Padova beach on the island of Rab, and the continuation of investments in the camps Istra Premium Camping Resort and Lanterna Premium Camping Resort.

In Dubrovnik, a new Valamar House has opened for the accommodation of seasonal workers, the fifth in Valamar destinations.

"The results achieved in the first quarter and booking trends are encouraging and announce a high demand for Croatia in this tourist season and a return to the levels of occupancy from 2019. Due to a significant rise in energy, labour and procurement prices, there is a risk of inflation, which contributes to uncertainty and difficult business conditions, especially jeopardising the future development and investments that Croatian tourism really needs," said Željko Kukurin, President of the Management Board of Valamar Riviera.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

For more, check out our business section.

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.

Make sure to follow our dedicated travel page for much more.

The hotels of the largest Croatian tourism company, Valamar Riviera, are the winners of the most prestigious global tourism awards this year. Namely, four Valamar hotels in three destinations have won the most prestigious tourism award in the world - the World Travel Awards. A ceremony and gala dinner was held in Madeira, Portugal where representatives of Valamar were proud to receive their newest recognition, reports Poslovni.hr on June 10, 2019. 

For seven years in a row, the status as one of the best was confirmed by Poreč Hotel Valamar Riviera 4*, which won the best Croatian boutique hotel, while Valamar Collection Girandella Resort 4*/5* in Rabac received recognition as the leading Croatian resort for the third year in a row.

In Dubrovnik this year are two significant recognitions: Hotel Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik 4* was proclaimed the leading Croatian business hotel for the sixth consecutive time, while the title of the leading hotel in Croatia went to the Valamar Collection Dubrovnik President 5* hotel.

"When you win this prestigious award for the seventh time in a row, it really confirms that you are doing a good job and are going in the right direction. We in Valamar continuously work on raising the quality and standards of our services, because we want our guests to feel comfortable and to provide them with diverse content in all our destinations. But without employees, who are the firm foundation of our company, we would not be where we are, and we would not win such awards,” said Valamar Riviera hotel director Marko Miš.

"We are exceptionally honored that professionals from all over the world, for the third year in a row, recognized our many years of investment in the quality of services we provide to our guests in the destination. This award is another added incentive for future successes, and the whole Valamar team is credited to it,” said Carmen Višković, director of the Valamar Collection Girandella Resort.

Vlaho Sabljić, director of the hotel Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik, said: “For the sixth consecutive year, this award has confirmed our status as the leader and the leading hotel in the region when it comes to congress tourism. Our congress capacities are one of the largest in the region, we have a high level of service, and we strive to set high standards to maintain various events, whether for smaller meetings or larger congresses and gatherings. And here, the effort paid off again, and it is a great honor to be recognized by professionals.”

"Dubrovnik is recognized worldwide as a hit destination for holidays, and the quality of service in hotels certainly contributes to this. This prestigious award is one of the great acknowledgments of our teamwork and continuous investment, but it is certainly a great responsibility to maintain excellence. We will continue to work hard on this, and we look forward to future successes, which we believe will be even more,” concluded Ivan Sabljić, director of the hotel Valamar Collection Dubrovnik President.

The World Travel Awards, recognized by the world-renowned Wall Street Journal magazine as the ‘Oscar’ of the travel industry, has been awarded since 1993 and for the 26th consecutive year, honoring and rewarding worldwide achievements in the tourism sector, with a wide range of categories.

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