– Croatia needs three to four years for a serious tourism start and to address the fundamental dilemmas of a society with delayed transition. The tourism sector is currently without professional support and there are serious political barriers and risks for further development.
We do not have a strong leading force and the exit for current investors is limited. We are in the midst of a global crisis and a shortage of capital. The hotel business is time-limited, there is no space for global brands, our local market is underdeveloped, we have not enabled mixed-use projects, facilities are indebted, banks are looking for solutions, and a response from the state is expected. Those who survive will have something to talk about – somewhat pessimistically, but strikingly explained the main controversies of Croatian tourism Miroslav Dragičević, director of Horwath Consulting at the second Symposium on Croatian Tourism and Hospitality held in Dubrovnik. He emphasized that this year can still be viewed through three positive shifts for tourism: the entry of Agrokor into ownership of adriatica.net, the establishment of a new association of hoteliers, and the removal of one to two strategic barriers.
The State Secretary for Tourism Ivo Mujo noted at the meeting that a call for the development of the Croatian Tourism Strategy should be announced in about ten days, which is essentially the only concrete thing that could be heard from representatives of the Ministry in the first panel on destination management. Co-owner of Falkensteiner and Michaeler Group Otmar Michaeler, who invested 200 million euros in the Punta Scala resort near Zadar and manages several other hotel facilities, pointed out that the Croatian strategy cannot be an investment of one billion euros by seven or eight investors in hotels because it is unknown how their business story will end. He added that he will not withdraw from Croatia, but that he is still troubled by bureaucracy and that investors will come to Croatia when clear laws emerge.
Congress guests in Zagreb spend 93, and in Vienna 415 euros per day
The second panel discussion on congress tourism was opened by Vladimir Preveden, director of Roland Berger, who compared Vienna as the best MICE destination in Europe with Zagreb, which ranks 180th. Congress tourism in Austria accounts for 12 percent of total overnight stays, while in Croatia it is below one percent; in Vienna, a MICE guest spends 415 euros per day, while in Zagreb it is 93 euros, which best illustrates the destination’s offer for business guests. Croatia earned 270 million kuna from congress tourism in its best year, 2008, while Vienna, excluding smaller places specialized for certain types of congresses, earned around 700 million euros. However, in the last three years, Croatia has recorded a 20 percent growth in the MICE segment, although last year traffic fell by 18 percent.
– We do not have time to wait three to four years; if we do not launch the system immediately, everything will fail. We could not invest more in Croatia – commented Michaeler. Co-owner of Adriatic Luxury Hotels Goran Štrok thinks similarly, noting that the system of tourist boards looks like it did 20 years ago and that, unlike the tourist boards in Great Britain, which are developing plans for the next ten years, Croatia lacks a clear vision for tourism. Hoteliers, he says, invested 400 million euros in Dubrovnik, and JLH 50 million euros, but they did not manage to extend the season. – This crisis did not occur only last year and is not happening only this year; it will last much longer and will require much more work than before. It is not transient, and one must really be prepared for it – concluded Štrok.
From representatives of the public sector, the most concrete presentation came from Jasen Mesić, director of the Directorate for Archival Activity and Archaeological Heritage at the Ministry of Culture, who emphasized that 60 percent of tourists travel to a destination because of cultural landmarks and natural beauties and that destinations like Dubrovnik can no longer be cultural destinations but must become cultural products. He noted that some destinations like Krapje, the only village in Europe declared by the EU Council as a village of rural architecture, are not mentioned in any marketing materials of the private and public sectors, and that around 150,000 foreign divers coming to Croatia are not included in any strategic document, nor is the largest underwater archaeological site in the Mediterranean in Cavtat. Mesić also announced some changes to the Law on the Collection of Monument Rent, so that from April 1, it would be charged in a way that does not ruin traditional crafts and relieves hoteliers who pay large fees due to large square footage, and some are closed for half the year.
In a sea of similar events, the Symposium initiated by co-owner of Valamar Georg Eltz, organized by the Austrian-Croatian Chamber in cooperation with HUP, is different in that it managed to attract the tourism elite, namely the most important representatives of the private and public sectors such as Goran Štrok, the aforementioned Eltz, Veljko Ostojić, Željko Kukurin, Jake Andabak, and Otmar Michaeler, who in two interesting panel discussions on destination management and congress tourism tried to reconcile public and private interests. The conclusions are not much different than usual; one side still shifts responsibility to the other, but perhaps the absence of Minister Damir Bajs and HTZ director Niko Bulić made the entire event more interesting and concrete. (Željka Laslavić)
