Our goal is to become a kind of marketing agency

All indicators presented so far suggest that Croatia should finish this season in the positive, with a few percentage points more tourist arrivals and overnight stays compared to last year, but since the beginning of July, contradictory data and comments have been continuously coming from the field indicating that there are no guests and that the season has underperformed.

In addition to the dissatisfaction expressed by the Minister of Tourism Darko Lorencin, discontent from some tourism circles regarding poorer results has also been directed towards the Croatian National Tourist Board, specifically towards its director Meri Matešić, who replaced long-time HTZ leader Niko Bulić in that position less than a year ago.

With your arrival at the helm of HTZ, a reorganization of the Main Office structure was announced, a new division of tasks, the phasing out of some somewhat outdated services, and the introduction of new services. How far has this progressed?

– The new organizational structure of the Main Office was necessary to align with HTZ’s current legal, functional, and operational tasks. In doing so, HTZ’s assumed and expected future tasks arising from the Tourism Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2020 and the new strategic marketing plan for Croatian tourism from 2014 to 2020, which is currently being developed, were taken into account. The reorganization is in the handover phase, which will conclude with the return of employees from their annual leave. We needed a functional and operational structure adapted to modern market trends and the business environment so that we could respond to them effectively.

The reorganization proposal was developed by the consulting firm Horwath Consulting Zagreb. What is it like and how will it be implemented?

– The business structure of the Main Office is organized into three operational departments according to core areas of work. Strategic planning and marketing is the central and key department responsible for strategic planning as well as the creative design and effective implementation of promotional and marketing activities using new knowledge and technology. The Offer Development and Destination Management department is responsible for all selective forms of offerings and the effective implementation of all activities related to the coordination and training of people in the system of tourist boards aimed at their training and transformation into destination management and marketing organizations. The Sales Improvement and Partner Relations department is responsible for effectively representing Croatian tourism by organizing fairs, presentations, study trips, and relations with key domestic and foreign partners, as well as managing representations and offices abroad.

What are the most important changes compared to the previous organization, does this move transform HTZ into a true marketing agency?

– That is the goal, to focus on becoming a marketing agency. Until now, there was no marketing department, which is the biggest change. There was a publishing department, but no one was specifically and currently engaged in marketing. The new model is similar to the structure of tourist boards in Austria and Switzerland, where we attended two meetings. Of course, the models cannot be completely copied. We have more tasks, while there they are exclusively focused on marketing and branding, and on ensuring as much funding as possible by partnering with business partners who do not have to come from the tourism sector but must be a recognizable and positive brand.

>>> Read the full interview in this week’s printed edition of Lider.