DHT: The Season Was Extraordinary, But We Must Prepare for a New One

– Tourism does not happen by chance; it is the result of hard work. There is no tourist season but a tourist year, and it is still ongoing. The Ministry of Tourism will support a more balanced development of tourism, which means a slightly firmer approach to the development of continental tourism and the extension of the tourist season, said Minister of Tourism Gari Capelli at the ceremonial award ceremony for the annual tourism awards during the closing evening of the Croatian Tourism Days (DHT) in Bol on Brač. He emphasized that with 90 million overnight stays achieved this year and revenues of 9.5 billion euros, we are at 50% of our goal for 2020, which is to reach 15 billion euros in tourism revenue.

According to the director of the Main Office of the Croatian Tourist Board, Ratomir Ivičić, as of October 26 this year, 87.6 million overnight stays have been recorded. Although he is satisfied with this year’s results, Ivičić says he has one foot in 2017 and 2018.

Lifetime Achievement Award winner Selimir Ognjenović, in his speech, advocated for tourist Croatia to extend beyond the Adriatic and bring tourism to the continent – to Slavonia, Baranja, and Zagorje.

– These awards are an encouragement and recognition for all the winners, but they also give us new opportunities ahead. I guarantee and assert that all who received awards are world-class and competitive in their services,” said Josip Zaher, Vice President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy for tourism, trade, and finance. He added that we must confirm our competitiveness and offer Croatian products through tourism.

Despite the phenomenal results achieved in tourism this year, the Croatian Tourism Days discussed the challenges and changes necessary to continue achieving success in the years to come.

Deficit of 20,000 Tourism Workers in 2017.

Marinela Dropulić Ružić from the Poreč Institute for Agriculture and Tourism highlighted the challenges faced by students, pupils, and young employees in tourism, identifying key challenges such as the perception of tourism as a poor employer, an unsatisfactory school program that relies mostly on theory while practical work is neglected, and poor management of human resources.

Dropulić Ružić also presented the results of the project Social Distance and the Index of Polychronism of Young Employees in Hospitality, which revealed that 73% of young employees are satisfied according to 1,604 surveyed hotel guests, but also the disappointing result that as many as 95% of young employees in tourism have never been abroad for professional training and that 51% have never pursued self-initiated professional development.

– During their stay on vacation, guests encounter 10 employees, and they are the face of the service, organization, and brand. A satisfied employee generates loyal guests, which in turn leads to profit, explained Dropulić Ružić.

– Employers need to ensure the best possible working conditions because only then will they have satisfied workers and guests, believes Natali Komen Bujas, director of the HUP Association of Hospitality and Tourism.

Moderating the panel discussion on the topic Employees – The Driving Force in Tourism, Iva Bahunek, director of the Employers’ Association in Croatian Hospitality, pointed out the alarming results of the labor shortage in tourism. This year, there was a shortage of 15,000 workers alongside 224,000 unemployed individuals on the job market, with estimates for the next year indicating a total shortage of 20,000 people.

The director of the Employment Service, Ante Lončar, stated that 2,300 new people from the hospitality sector register with the employment office each year, and approximately 26,000 are currently unemployed from that sector. Lončar believes that those who refuse jobs should be removed from the HZZ registry.

Ensuring travel expenses and accommodation for seasonal workers, as well as assistance in financing the training of young workers in small tourist facilities, are some of the demands presented at this panel.

Young Employees Lack Practical Knowledge.

– It is necessary to introduce more practice into teaching. The curricular reform is on the right track to achieve this. Children need to regain dignity and be trained not only to be someone else’s workers but also to become entrepreneurs who will employ another generation, said Nenad Šepak, president of the Guild of Hospitality and Tourism Workers of HOK.

Ivica Sabljić, director of the Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik hotel, agreed, participating in the round table How to Achieve a Competitive and Sustainable Model of Managing Croatian Tourism, emphasizing that the problem of labor shortage is indeed significant and that when he was educated, there were 6 months of school and 6 months of practice, and students were ready to work upon finishing high school, whereas today, fourth-year high school students are afraid to face guests because they lack experience. Sabljić demonstrated that it is possible to tackle the labor shortage problem by stating that special accommodation units for employees of his hotel in Dubrovnik are being built and that they are offering 200 scholarships for interns.

Expectations from the Ministry of Tourism.

– The Ministry of Tourism should be our megaphone in presenting our ideas to the Ministry of the Sea, the Ministry of Finance, and similar institutions, said Sean Lisjak, president of the Marina Association at HGK, noting that it is high time to bring out the Law on Maritime Property from the drawers, which would lay quality foundations for achieving better results in nautical tourism, as it is currently treated as a recreational activity.

Marcel Medak, president of the Health Tourism Association at HGK, emphasized that it is urgently necessary to create new legal regulations that would generate revenue of 3 billion euros, the potential that health tourism has, while its revenues are currently capped at 300 million euros. This would also help stop the brain drain, Medak believes. Neven Ivandić from the Institute for Tourism stated that we can become a European leader in thalassotherapy, but also that the transformation of Croatian tourism should be focused on the mission of increasing the supply of tourism products and experiences.

– The Ministry of Tourism needs to strengthen its staff, but it should not change its functions, believes Miroslav Dragičević, head of Horwath Consulting. On the other hand, he thinks that the practice of changing the head of the Croatian Tourist Board with changes in government should be altered.