On Sunday, February 19, Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli participated in a presentation and tour of the Hotel Plat complex in the municipality of Župa within his official visit to Dubrovnik-Neretva County.
The Croatian Government will declare the Hotel Plat complex a strategic investment project, making the Plat hotels and the investors Hotel Plat d.d one of 10 tourism projects that are on the list of investment projects for Croatia, reports HRTurizam on February 19, 2017.
During a tour of the Hotel Plat complex, Minister Cappelli emphasized the importance of investment in tourism, and in particular when it comes to accommodation facilities of a high category - something that Croatia is missing. Cappelli continued that it is necessary to have facilities of the highest categories because they have the best occupancy rate during the year, which is essential to reduce seasonality.
In addition, high class hotels raise the overall competitiveness of the destination, but also of the whole of Croatia because tourists are provided with a high level of services and offers.
"I am especially pleased that we have visited another investment that will be very important not just for local tourism, but for the whole of Croatian tourism. This investment is very important because the company Plat dd came from bankruptcy and became a company that found investors, and soon the entire project will be declared strategic for Croatian tourism. The interest of the Government of course is that this project is implemented in the shortest possible period of time, or that the newly renovated Hotel Plat complex will continue to receive guests as a high-class hotel,” said Minister Cappelli, who added that Dubrovnik-Neretva County currently has a hotel capacity of 22,000 beds, which is only about 25 percent of the total capacity - this is certainly the intention that this hotel project increases, especially in the segment of hotels with 4 and 5 stars.
Currently, the Hotel Plat complex operates one hotel and 7 independent villas with a category of 3*, totaling to 236 units. The other buildings (hotels and pavilions) are out of order because they were destroyed during the war. Under this project, the investor plans to completely renew all existing accommodation capacities, from those that are currently in operation to those that are currently not functioning.
This project worth 428 million kuna refers to the reconstruction of the Hotel Plat complex to a resort hotel with 5*, which has a capacity of about 550 units and will create over 400 jobs. The completion of the project is planned for the tourist season in 2019.
"After completion of the planned investment cycle worth over 428 million kuna for the reconstruction and construction of new facilities, the new Hotel Plat complex will shine on the market under TUI's revolutionary, most luxurious, and prestigious brand Sensata - giving the Croatian tourist offer additional quality and a higher level of service. The TUI Group is one of the world's leading tourism groups that annually serves more than 30 million customers in over 30 base markets. The business model of Karisma Hotels Adriatic further highlights the valuable cooperation based on long-term contracts with the TUI Group, which guarantees high occupancy and additional business efficiency, which will, under this luxury brand, certainly contribute to raising the standard of the Plat hotels and the hotel standards in Croatia in its entirety. Likewise, all of the above it will ensure a higher occupancy rate and create the conditions for the real extension of the season,” said Pero Matic, Director of Hotels Plat dd.
The privatization of the company Hotels Plat dd was conducted in June 2015, with the sale of a majority stake owned by the Croatian company KHA četiri d.o.o.
