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The director of the Croatian Tourism Association (HUT), Veljko Ostojić, evaluates the course of this tourist year as very good, taking into account two really great seasons, reports HRT.
He reminds that the last successful years were a consequence of the pandemic and that closer destinations like Croatia were much more sought after compared to 'normal years'.
Hoteliers are generally satisfied during the season, which, due to its complexity, requires daily management of business processes. They believe that it is urgent to prevent the market collapse of destinations apartment building and think about the prices, because mistakes here harm both facilities and destinations, says Ostojić.
High category hotels and campsites record high occupancy, while the situation is somewhat less favorable in apartments and cottages. Regarding the operations and the course of the season of HUT members, among which are the largest hotel companies in Croatia, the director of HUT states that they work excellently and have a high level of occupancy, especially high category facilities.
5-star hotels are currently 96 percent occupied, campsites with the same category even 4 percent, and 93-star hotels 22 percent. Registered capacities in holiday homes are 55 percent full, and commercial facilities for short-term tourist rentals are about XNUMX percent.
"All these facilities had to be equipped with infrastructure and especially now, in the peak of the season, they put an enormous burden on the overall infrastructure. Let me be completely clear - real family accommodation when the guest stays in a facility where the family lives is something extremely positive and specific for our tourism, and this type of accommodation should be further developed by raising its quality, with a reconsideration of the number of beds that can be registered by citizens, and thus and pay 'social' tax. The problem is the 'massive' apartments, flats and cottages that are occupied from 40 to 50 days a year, and at the same time they put a heavy burden on the destination and, as a rule, reduce its attractiveness and competitiveness.", warns Ostojić.
Therefore, he says, the further construction of facilities for short-term tourist rental (commercial and non-commercial) must be stopped as soon as possible in certain destinations and urgently.
For this, he cites the example of the accommodation structure of one of the most touristic municipalities in Croatia (he does not specify which one) where there are a total of 57.000 tourist beds, of which only 2300 are in hotels and 13.200 in camps. Everything else is in facilities for short-term tourist rental, which, he says, is "the road to market suicide in the short term".
In Croatia, in the last two years, about 110.000 beds in facilities for short-term tourist rental, which is the equivalent of 220 hotels Ambasador in Opatija or Olimpija in Vodice.
About price in tourism, which is a popular topic this season, points out that we live in a market economy society and that it is clear that each entrepreneur defines prices at his own discretion. He is responsible for his business success and responsible for his business failure.
/ / / There is no collapse of Croatian tourism. A market is happening.
This, he adds, is true in industries where there is no complex value chain in which each link depends on each other, but in tourism it is a different story because everything is connected.
"To be more clear, from an example - of course every restaurant or hotel has the right and should define the prices of the services it provides, but that restaurant or hotel is part of the value chain of an individual destination in the narrower and broader sense. The consequences of wrong business decisions are then not only suffered by the restaurant or hotel, but also by the entire destination, which can be declared too expensive in relation to the price and quality provided by service providers. That's why my message is - let's think", appeals Ostojić.
As there is less tourist traffic from Germany this year, he comments that this is also due to the economic crisis, which affects the vacation budget, but also due to the still present image of Croatia in Germany as a more affordable Mediterranean destination.
Therefore, he says, it is important to work on quality and ensure that the value for money is adequate, he reports HRT.
/ / / Research: Tourism companies expect a good season and revenue growth
Photo: HUT
