Esplanade Plans Price and Occupancy Growth

One of the most attractive hotels in Zagreb, the Esplanade Zagreb Hotel, is operating independently for the first time this year after a long period without an international (management) brand. Following a successful previous year, it expects to continue achieving good results this year, planning a 4.5 percent increase in occupancy along with a slight increase in average price.

This information comes from the General Director of Esplanade, Ivica Krizmanić, who, satisfied with the hotel’s operations, emphasizes that they ended the previous year with an 11 percent increase in overnight stays compared to the previous year and a 5 percent increase in accommodation occupancy.

The average price also increased by 1.3 percent last year, resulting in a 5.6 percent increase in overnight revenue compared to 2011, and they also saw an increase in employment of about 3 percent.

Although they experienced a certain decline in business groups last year, business guests remain the most numerous in the hotel, but the number of individual tourists is also increasing, especially from Brazil, Spain, and Japan, while the largest group of guests comes from the USA.

Regarding independent operations this year, Krizmanić states that it will not bring significant changes and may even be easier as they can timely adapt to market movements, especially in the domestic market, and are less burdened by administration.

This allows them to focus more on their main goal of a satisfied guest, which is important as they have an excellent team that collaborates on all activities, and all of this, as he says, is supported by the hotel’s owner, an Austrian.

Announcing a shift in the promotion of the hotel to new markets such as the Middle East, Russia, Japan, China, and others, Krizmanić also notes that they are in the process of implementing HALAL certification, which he believes will attract even more new markets.

In promotion and operations, they are increasingly turning to new technologies and digital formats, the internet, key search engines, communication on social media, and similar platforms. As they have determined that most of their guests use smartphone mobile devices, they were the first, as he says, in Croatia to create a free hotel application a month ago.

They are currently exploring the possibility of reading newspapers on several tablet devices set up in the Esplanade bar, which would again place them among the first, and they see great potential in this for enhancing their offerings and services.

They are also working on introducing a new TV system that should be operational in a few months, and all of this requires certain investments, which are quite significant each year to maintain the quality of the hotel, accommodation, restaurant, and other services at a high level and according to five-star hotel standards.

This year, they expect an increase in activity levels due to Croatia’s entry into the EU, as well as due to price adjustments that they already corrected last year in the hospitality sector of the hotel, reducing prices depending on items by between 15 and 30 percent. This has already resulted in a significant increase in the number of users in the restaurant and a 2.5 percent increase in revenue compared to 2011.

He assesses the relationships with the City, the Tourist Board, and other partners as correct, believing that through collaboration, they can better utilize the untapped potential of Zagreb and Croatia, attract new investments, and more guests.