As Glas Istre/Milan Pavlovic writes on the 30th of November, 2019, Pinea will be a luxurious five-star hotel with the largest hotel event centre in Istria with a congress capacity of 1,200 guests, as was announced by Valamar.

The Pical Valamar zone in Poreč will realise investments worth 1.5 billion kuna by 2021. The central part of this project is the Pinea Hotel - the largest single investment in Croatian tourism - worth a total of 790 million kuna. The construction of Valamar's new five star tourist facility began this autumn.

According to Valamar, this project represents the transformation of Poreč's tourism offer into a higher quality one. It will create 500 year-round jobs, bring in better paying guests, increase spending, extend the tourist season and improve the quality of beaches and promenades in the Pical area for both local residents and guests of the City of Poreč.

The giant Croatian company added that comprehensive renovation of the new Pical zone, along with 20,000 square metres of beaches and promenades next to the sea, will also bring beautiful Poreč a four-kilometre well-maintained recreational trail, an indoor sports swimming pool with five swimming lanes that will operate throughout the year. On top of that, another 50 metre outdoor pool will be constructed.

Pical is the largest project, but is far from the only Valamar project for this winter. In 2020, Valamar's total investments, including those in the Imperial Riviera branch of Rab, will reach an enormous 826 million kuna.

The Valamar supervisory board approved the investment cycle for the coming year, and the planned investments, they say, represent a continuation of the strategy of investing in repositioning their facilities according to the offer and services of high added value.

Valamar is thus completing a major project of repositioning the Istra Premium Camping Resort in Funtana into the first five-star camping resort in Istria next year, bringing the total three-year investment in the camp to around 413 million kuna in total.

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Beautiful nature and a pleasant climate, rich and varied gastronomy, nice local customs and life’s little pleasures such as the habit of drinking coffee in the afternoon, and above all cordial and hospitable people, are just some of the reasons why it is very easy to fall in love with Croatia. It gets even better if you find a great job that you are comfortable with. Sidney Lukas Zivko who moved from Germany to Novigrad a year and a half ago has all of this. In addition to living in beautiful Istria, he soon found a job at the Valamar Reservation Centre.

“I love the people I work with,” is one of the first sentences he’ll tell you if you ask him how he likes it here.

"I wanted to try something new and I'm thrilled. I can say that the people here are much more relaxed. They’re hard-working, but they are significantly more accommodating,’’ he says, adding that that’s what he likes the most in Croatia. His story is a bit unusual because while many Croats have been emigrating to Germany for decades, he has done the opposite. He had, he reveals, two good reasons for it: his roots were Croatian, so this country had always interested him, and he found a great job.

There is no language barrier at his job because the languages ​​he speaks are sought after. Sidney is employed as a sales consultant at the Valamar Reservation Centre, located in the Poreč administration building. The sales advisers at the reservation centre are the first contact guests have with Valamar, which can accommodate 58 thousand guests in its hotels and camps from Istria to Dubrovnik.

Guests contact the centre with the intention of booking their accommodation or finding out more about their arrival and accommodation. During the full season, sales consultants at the reservation centre respond to about 2,000 emails and about 1,500 calls per day. But with the teammates he has, says Sidney, it all works out. “I love helping the guests and answering all their questions,” he points out.

The reservation centre staff speak two or three foreign languages, mostly English, German and Italian, which is a prerequisite for good communication with guests who are extremely satisfied with such a service. Sidney speaks excellent German and English, and his Croatian is getting better and better, and he fits in well with Valamar's team. He learned all about business very quickly. His colleagues and the reservation centre’s manager Vesna Otočan are always available for any questions.

‘’I have the feeling that they appreciate me here and I’m really satisfied,’’ he adds.

Of course, the ideal balance between our private and work lives is important to us all, and with this job you can enjoy yourself, says Sidney.

“The work is organised in shifts. The morning shift starts at 08:00 and my work day starts with checking my emails. Then come the calls. We have enough free time, in addition to knowing the work schedule in advance. It's easy to agree on everything we need,’’ he says, adding that he also hangs out with colleagues.

“We go out for dinner or a drink,” he explains, adding that Valamar’s employees have a ValamArtist card that allows them to get discounts on certain services and restaurants within Valamar’s facilities.

If you have a good command of foreign languages ​​and are looking for a job in Croatia, the Valamar Reservation Centre is currently hiring sales consultants. This is an opportunity for a year-round tourism job in which fluent knowledge of foreign languages ​​is the most important requirement. The induction process takes a month, with all possible help available.

The probationary period is three months. The contract immediately then extends to one year. All those who apply can expect to have excellent benefits that make Valamar a top employer in tourism and one of the most desirable employers on the Croatian labour market: a minimum net income of HRK 5,000 to HRK 7,500, a 13th salary of HRK 5,000 to net employees who work for a minimum of 10 months in next year and all full-time employees, continued specialist training and many other benefits.

Register today at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and build a career in a sought-after workplace such as this, of one of the largest global hotel companies.

October 22, 2019 - Valamar Riviera is launching the ‘1,000 Trees of Valamar’ initiative, the largest green action of its kind in Croatian tourism.

HRTurizam writes that as part of the initiative, Valamar Riviera will plant a minimum of one thousand new trees a year in its destinations along the Adriatic coast. With this initiative, Valamar wants to emphasize the importance of sustainable tourism development and environmental care as an indispensable criterion for creating new value and long-term quality of tourism in Croatia.

Already in 2019, more than a thousand trees and more than 50,000 different seedlings such as tall shrubs and perennials will be planted at Valamar hotels, resorts and campsites. The initiative will continue in the coming period when Valamar intends to plant at least 1,000 trees a year and continue intensive care for the protection and restoration of native plant species in its destinations. In addition to planting trees and plants, Valamar also continuously cares for the health of its existing plant stock, which includes over 30,000 trees covering a total area of 589 hectares from Istria to Dubrovnik.

“As a leader in tourism in Croatia, with the initiative of ‘1,000 Trees of Valamar’, we make our direct contribution to the protection of the environment in which we operate and live. We have a responsibility to create new value in a way that will preserve and develop our highly valuable natural resources for future generations. Last year, we invested around HRK 22 million in Green Valamar, of which almost HRK 7 million was invested in horticulture alone. I am also pleased that our staff is happy to be involved in our tree planting actions,” said Ivana Budin Arhanic, Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Affairs at Valamar Riviera.

The ‘1,000 Tress of Valamar’ initiative is a continuation of the development of the Green Valamar Corporate Social Responsibility program, within which Valamar has been systematically implementing environmental activities for years. Valamar uses 100% green electricity from renewable sources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 65% between 2015 and 2019. Over the past six years, Valamar has installed 5,200 square meters of solar panels. Also, last year Valamar completely discarded plastic straws from use in its hotels and camps.

Valamar works to raise environmental awareness of guests, staff, and the wider community, which includes actions to clean up the Adriatic Sea and the coast, in which numerous sports associations participate every year. An ISO14001 environmental management system has been introduced in all Valamar facilities, with 75% of accommodation units in hotels and resorts also possessing the Travelife certification, which confirms the sustainability of operations to the highest international standards. As many as six Valamar campsites have been awarded the prestigious EU Ecolabel certificate this year, making them one of the most sustainable tourist resorts in Europe.

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

September 24, 2019 - Valamar Riviera is launching an investment of 790 million kuna in the Pinia Hotel in Porec this October.

Novi List writes that the largest hotel company in Croatia, Valamar Riviera, is launching an investment of 790 million kuna in the Pinia Hotel in Porec in October, as well as the completion of beaches and promenades with numerous facilities, and plans to complete it for the 2021 season, the company said on Tuesday. 

Valamar Riviera presented this investment at the Istrian Chamber in Porec on Tuesday, while also showing a model to citizens. As they point out, it is the largest project in Croatian tourism, which will engage several local businesses and craftspeople in the next year and a half.

The future Pinea Hotel will be a year-round, luxury five-star hotel, with 514 accommodation units, and will have the largest hotel 'event' center in Istria, with a congress capacity of 1,200 guests. The plan is also to create 500 full-time jobs, bring guests with higher spending power, increase consumption, extend the season, and improve the quality of beaches and promenades in the area for citizens and tourists.

"With this investment, Valamar continues with the strategy of raising the quality of its portfolio and services towards high value-added tourism. The new Pical zone is transforming Porec tourism into a higher quality one, which will ensure year-round tourism and significantly increase the tourist value of the destination. By investing in the Pical zone, beaches, promenades, and a recreational zone will be arranged and an indoor swimming pool will be built for citizens and guests of the city in accordance with Valamar's mission to develop tourism in a socially responsible and sustainable way,” said Valamar CEO Zeljko Kukurin.

The mayor of Porec, Loris Persuric, believes that this investment will stimulate a stronger development of the local economy.

Valamar also pointed out that, with the investments already made in the previous period, they plan to invest a total of 1.5 billion kuna in the Pical zone, which, in their estimation, will create one of the most attractive tourist zones in Croatia. In addition to the Pinia Hotel, this includes the Valamar Collection Marea Suites facilities opened this year, the Valamar Parentino Hotel (ex Zagreb), which will expand and further enrich the facilities for the 2020 season, as well as the existing accommodation of the Valamar Pinia Hotel.

They also announced the expansion of gourmet offerings with a variety of restaurants and bars, adding that the beaches, promenades, sports and recreational facilities in the Pical zone will see new trees, vegetation, and ornamental plants.

As part of the comprehensive landscaping of the new Pical Zone, along with the 20,000 square meters of beaches and promenades by the sea, will be a four-kilometer recreational trail, an indoor sports pool with five swimming lanes and an outdoor 50-meter tide pool, which is expected to stimulate the further development of water sports and the general development of sports in Porec. 

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

Imperial Riviera will operate in multiple destinations across the Republic of Croatia with the highest level of corporate governance quality as the owner of a significant tourism portfolio.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of September, 2019, in an invitation to the General Assembly, the management of Imperial Riviera d.d. proposed an increase of the share capital of the Imperial Riviera, worth 426 million kuna, equivalent to about 57 million euros.

Over the last three years, Valamar Riviera and AZ pension fund (Mirovinski fond) have jointly invested over 1 billion kuna in Croatian tourism through the acquisitions of Rab's Imperial and Hotels Makarska and through continued investments in the development of their tourism portfolios. The merger of Hotels Makarska with Imperial at the end of June this year created Imperial Riviera d.d., with the aim of creating a stronger platform for continued investment in the expansion of their tourism business in Croatia and the wider region.

The announced increase of Imperial Riviera's share capital is the beginning of the realisation of a five-year business plan that anticipates 200 million euros worth of new investments in raising the quality of their portfolio and growth through acquisitions and expansion to attractive tourist destinations in Croatia and across the region, making Imperial Riviera one of the five leading tourism companies in all of Croatia.

As stated, Imperial Riviera will operate in multiple destinations with the highest level of corporate governance quality as the owner of a significant tourism portfolio.

"Raising capital and organising a joint venture for the management and investment into property in the region is a logical continuation of the successful cooperation between the leading pension fund and the leading hotel company in Croatia. We believe in the growth potential of Croatian tourism and the long-term sustainability of the hospitality industry which invests in employees, destinations and quality tourism, and I'm convinced that partnering with the AZ pension fund is an ideal model for investing and developing Croatian tourism,'' said Željko Kukurin, CEO of Valamar Riviera.

"Continued investment in this joint project is a follow-up to the investment strategy of the AZ pension fund under which we invest in Croatian tourism, as we believe that such investments are in line with the long-term investment potential of our fund members, for whom such investments represent the possibility of obtaining optimal returns. We consider the model in which we combine the investment potential of AZ pension funds and the experience and success of running Valamar, as a leading Croatian hotel company, as a model that ensures the long-term success of this project,'' said Kristijan Buk, CEO of Allianz ZB, a company which deals with the management of mandatory and voluntary pension funds.

Valamar Riviera is a highly respected, leading Croatian tourist company that manages hotels, resorts and campsites in well-known tourist destinations. Valamar can accommodate approximately 58,000 guests a day in 34 hotels and resorts and in 15 campsites, with the aim of providing the perfect holiday and an authentic experience for each individual guest. Valamar is a leader in innovative resort tourism management and is a destination partner, which through responsible and sustainable tourism business, creates new value for guests, employees, shareholders and the local community alike.

The AZ pension fund is the largest institutional investor in the Republic of Croatia. With total assets under management exceeding a massive 44 billion kuna, the AZ pension fund represent relevant investors in the European context as well. AZ's mandatory pension funds are currently taking care of the retirement savings of over 677,000 Croatian employees, while AZ's voluntary pension funds deal with over 142,000 citizens.

Imperial Riviera has six hotels, three tourist resorts and two campsites in some of the leading Croatian destinations, the island of Rab and Makarska. Valamar has been in charge of managing the tourism business of the entire portfolio since 2016.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 26th of July, 2019, Valamar Riviera has employed 7,000 employees and confirmed its prestigious status as the largest tourist company and the best employer in tourism in the whole of the Republic of Croatia.

''We're happy to have passed the large number of 7,000 employees a few days ago. Our employees are working hard during the season, which has now entered its peak. In our 34 hotels and summer resorts, as well as in our 15 summer resort camps, we take care of 58,000 guests daily. We will continue to strive to improve the conditions for our employees to justify our title as the best employer in tourism, and be a good example for other companies,'' said Ines Damjanic Šturman, Human Resources Director at Valamar Riviera.

In August, Valamar Riviera will award a special reward to all of its employees for a very successful first part of 2019's tourist season. The reward in the net amount of 500 kuna will be paid to all of Valamar's employees working both full and fixed-term contracts, who will be in a working relationship with the company on July the 31st, and who have worked for at least half a month throughout the month of July. Students who will also work for at least two weeks in July will receive a prize in the net amount of 300 kuna. The awards will be paid in August along with the regular employee salary for July.

Valamar offers the best conditions for working in tourism and guarantees all its employees minimum net salaries in the amount of 5,000 kuna to 7,500 kuna, as well as a thirteenth salary in the amount of 5,000 kuna net for all permanent employees and those who will work for at least ten months in 2019.

Additionally, all employees who work for an indefinite period of time at the time of payment, Valamar will pay 2,000 kuna net as a Christmas bonus this year, and the employees with a fixed-term who will complete the season will be rewarded Valamar's seasonal work award in the net amount from 700 to 1,500 kuna depending on the number of hours worked.

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The Supervisory Board of Valamar Riviera d.d. has already approved the upcoming annual investment cycle of 599 million kuna. Thus, Valamar continues its intensive investment strategy to raise the quality of its portfolios and services to high-value tourism, reports HRTurizam on June 27, 2019.

Although significant, the investment cycle for 2020 is lower than in the previous years, and as highlighted by Valamar Riviera, it is because of the global slowdown in market demand and rising operating costs.

However, the big news surrounding the new investment cycle is the announcement of the largest Croatian summer resort with a total value of 790 million kuna, which was presented on Thursday in Poreč.

The Poreč hotel Pical 2* will be wholly transformed into a luxury five-star resort with about 500 accommodation units. The resort, which will accommodate as many as 1,700 guests, will have seven bars and seven restaurants, 2,200 square meter swimming pools, the Sundance beach club, indoor pool and wellness center, Maro family facilities and perhaps the most important - a congress center for 1,200 guests.

The construction of this summer resort is the most significant single investment in Croatian tourism, and the completion of the investment is planned for 2021. Valamar continues to invest in the Pical area, which together with the Valamar Collection Marea Suites 5*, which opened this year, will become the top of Poreč tourism and one of the most attractive tourist areas in Croatia.

"Valamar has successfully realized investments and business goals set for the past three years and is now moving into a new phase of development. We plan to continue developing our business following our formula of success based on investing in employees, products, and destinations, with sustainable development and socially responsible business. However, it is still necessary to work on the overall competitiveness of Croatian tourism compared to other destinations in the Mediterranean if we want to strengthen the investment potential of the tourism sector and keep our employees in tourism in Croatia,” said Željko Kukurin, Chairman of the Board of Valamar Riviera.

Valamar has successfully realized all this year's investments worth 793 million kuna. Thus, Valamar has invested a total of 5.8 billion kuna in Croatian tourism.

By the end of this year, a new development strategy will be presented for the next three-year period, and thus continue to realize the vision of leaders in holiday tourism that, in partnership with destinations, provides authentic guests experiences, concludes Valamar.

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In the first quarter of 2019, Valamar Riviera recorded 53 million kuna in total revenue and seven million kuna more in sales revenue than in the first quarter of 2018. The tourist company said this is mostly the result of the successful first winter season of the Valamar Obertauern Hotel and that, due to the move of the Easter holidays to the second quarter and the small share of revenues realized by Valamar in the first quarter, the results are not indicative, reports Večernji List on May 3, 2019.

The company is currently finalizing this year's investments worth 793 million kuna, which represents a continuation of its investment strategy in Croatian tourism, within which Valamar has invested more than five billion kuna. The most significant investment projects are two newest high-end facilities, Istra Premium Camping Resort 5* and Valamar Collection Marea Suites 5* in Poreč in Istria, which are due to open in June and which have already been well received on the market.

“We expect a successful and timely opening of all of this year's investment projects, and we are happy with the business results achieved at the beginning of the season during the Easter holidays. The demand is satisfactory, especially for the accommodation facilities we have invested in, but we expect a challenging tourist season given the global trends and increased competitiveness of certain destinations, especially in the Mediterranean,” says Željko Kukurin, CEO of Valamar Riviera.

This year, Valamar opened about 400 new jobs and will employ more than 7,000 employees from Istria and Kvarner to Dubrovnik. Valamar has been rated as the best employer in tourism and the only tourism company that, according to independent research, is among the top 20 employers in Croatia. It guarantees its employees minimum net earnings in the amount of 5,000 to 7,500 kuna for the full monthly workload, special season bonuses, the 13th salary and the Christmas bonus.

Since April, the shares of Valamar Riviera have been included on the Zagreb Stock Exchange's leading market, which the company considers to be an additional confirmation of Valamar’s high level of business and financial success, transparency and good corporate governance.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Radmila Kovačević).

More tourism news can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, March 3, 2019 - Valamar Riviera earned 276.4 million euro in total revenues in 2018 or 11% more than in 2017, according to the audited annual results which this leading hotel company has recently published.

The company's total expenditure was 1.79 billion kuna, rising 11.6% from 2017.

"Total overnights reached 6.5 million growing 4.6% compared to the same period last year, while the average rate grew by 5%," the company says in a press release.

"In 2018, operating profit adjusted for one-off items increased by 13% to 94.8 million euro as a result of previous investments in portfolio repositioning and expansion as well as successfully balancing operating efficiency with increasing payroll and improving employee working conditions.

Valamar boasts that it has invested over 539 million euro in Croatian tourism so far.

"Investments worth 107 million euro are under way for the 2019 season as a continuation of Valamar’s investment strategy to reposition the hospitality portfolio towards premium products and services".

More news on Croatian tourism can be found in the Travel section.

It is essential that we have the Investment Promotion Act that allows us profitable investments, said Valamar Riviera which is in the middle of an investment cycle worth about one billion kuna. The largest Croatian tourism company has presented three projects that will expand its luxury tourism offer, reports Jutarnji List on March 2, 2019.

The first of them will be inaugurated this summer in Poreč and will bring us the Istrian five-star campsite. Valamar Riviera has invested 350 million kuna in the Istra Premium Camping Resort, which it says will be “the best camping resort in the Mediterranean", with have a thousand accommodation units and able to accommodate between 2,700 and 2,800 guests. Additionally, this summer Valamar Riviera will open the first Poreč family hotel at the five-star Valamar Collection Marea Suites.

“Our third project for this year, the Valamar Collection Resort in Poreč, is still under development, and we are aiming for it to operate all year long,” said Valamar Riviera, adding that they will have to employ new people in their company and increase salaries to the existing ones.

In addition to the Valamar Riviera, the Ministry of Economy presented eight additional certificates awarded for investment support. The nine Croatian companies plan to invest 1.2 billion kuna in the next three years. Also, four of the companies also received non-refundable grants for opening new jobs. “Today we have made it easier to implement the investment cycle worth 1.3 billion kuna,” said Economy Minister Darko Horvat.

Under the law, the minimum level of investments which are eligible for incentives is 150,000 euro, subject to the requirement of opening at least five new jobs to be retained for the next three years. The support itself depends on the net and gross salaries for newly-created positions. Among the incentive measures, the most attractive one is the reduction of the company tax rate by 50 to 100 per cent over a period of ten years.

According to Minister Horvat, this is all part of the ministry's project to help Croatian entrepreneurs and keep them in Croatia. “This is the continuation of the project we started in 2012 when the Investment Promotion Act was adopted. As part of this law, as many as 377 entrepreneurs have been encouraged to launch the total investments exceeding 16 billion kuna, and 12,750 new jobs have been opened,” said Minister Horvat.

Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Lea Balenović).

More news about Valamar can be found in the Travel section.