As Jozo Vrdoljak/Novac writes on the 29th of June, 2020, after the Bluesun hotels in Bol, Brela and Tučepi, Elaphus, Berulia and Alga were opened on June the 10th, as were the Amor hotel in Supetar and the camp in Starigrad Paklenica, the largest Dalmatian hotel group Bluesun Hotels & Resorts opened the Holiday Village Sagitt on the 27th of the month.
At the beginning of July, the Bluesun Hotel Neptun in Tucepi and the Bluesun Hotel Soline in Brela will also open. After that, as Leo Urlic, the director of sales and marketing revealed, the company intends to open the Bluesun Hotel Alan in Starigrad Paklenica.
Date adjustments and discounts
"The adjustment of the date and a discount of 20 percent attracted Croatian guests who used the extended weekend to spend their holiday on the Adriatic. The second extended weekend in June gave more concrete results. Considering the fact that the number of guests in hotels is increasing and the demand is growing, we've come to the situation that we're starting to open other hotels in our destinations,'' revealed Urlic.
He explained that in this situation, there is a trend of a large increase in individual guests and online reservations, while, on the other hand, tour operators are activating somewhat more slowly because they are mainly related to the situation in air traffic.
"The agencies announced the beginning of their air programme for mid-July, the largest tour operators from the Scandinavian market. That's certainly good news. The encouraging news is that the number of German guests is also growing. One of the largest German tour operators commented that they're catching up fast, and that their bookings are getting better. They calculate that Croatia will realise 50 to 60 percent of last year's turnover. All these trends, as well as the activation of air traffic, give us some optimism that we'll open our other hotels in our destinations by the end of July,'' assured Urlic.
Trends and reservations for Bluesun hotels
Leo Urlic emphasised that the strong trend of last minute reservations is still very much present, and the real momentum of the season is expected when the school year ends. So, they expect an increased inflow of reservations for families with children soon.
"Our reservation centre has been achieving great growth for the third year in a row now, and that is one of the biggest investments and strides we've had in business. A lot has been invested in people, in state-of-the-art tools, in the system and of course in marketing. Last year, we had an enviable increase and as such we increased the share of individual provisions. We realised that trends are changing. The new client is dynamic, flexible, they've often booked from a mobile phone and we've adapted to that. This situation with the pandemic only further accelerated the continuation of that trend that we started. We've changed the communication towards our clients through activities on websites and advertising. We notice that the number of visits to our website has tripled compared to the same period last year,'' added Urlic.
At the same time, bookings through online travel agencies continue to grow...
"It's an interesting fact that fourteen days ago, the data on reservations showed that we were two months behind where we were last year. In just two weeks, the backlog has narrowed to a month and ten days, so hopefully by mid-July we will reach the figures from that period last year, because for now, everything is going in that direction. Air traffic is slowly returning to its regular frames, so the market is much more dependent on domestic guests and those who traditionally come to Croatia by car,'' he said.
According to Stjepko Sosic, the director of revenue management at Bluesun Hotels & Resorts, after a complete standstill since mid-March, bookings for this particular popular hotel group have been slowly growing since the end of April.
"June showed a concrete recovery in booking. Last week’s inflow of bookings was identical to that in the same week last year. However, of course, the base is smaller because the reservations that should have been booked in the period from March to May were lost,'' said Stjepko Sosic.
Holiday Village Sagitta near Omis, managed by Salva Regina, opened on June the 27th
"The isolation that is possible at this location and accommodation in apartments and bungalows, in this year's new circumstances, has made Holiday Village Sagitta even more desirable for guests to whom such accommodation instills additional security and trust," says Martina Kovacic, director of Salva Regina.
The Bluesun camp Paklenica, which opened on May the 27th, is already well filled
"The beaches are full, we're opening additional outdoor facilities with food and drinks, the a la carte restaurant in the camp is full, and guests from private accommodation are coming to us. The influx of Slovenian guests is noticeable. The type of accommodation also has a significant impact on occupancy, mobile homes and camping give guests a sense of security,'' said Goran Babin, the director of the Starigrad Paklenica destination owned by Bluesun Hotels & Resorts.
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