Croatia Tourism Market Not Ideal For Hotels
Helen YoungPavle Radonic has been employed by Hotel Belvedere, which overlooks the stunning medieval city of Dubrovnik, as an assistant manager for 18 years.
With the exception of his first few months on the job, Radonic has never welcomed a guest at the hotel.
This is a glimpse of the tourist industry in Croatia. Here, it’s possible to see five-star cliffside resorts with stunning vistas provided by the Adriatic to remain shuttered.
Radonic finds it hard to understand that in 18 years, practically nothing has happened. He spoke as he was giving a tour of the hotel, damaged from the war of independence which immediately began after he was hired in 1991, displaying its shattered walls, broken glass and twisted metal.
Radonic said he would have never spent 18 years here if he would have known of the outcome.
Thanks to the crystal-clear Adriatic Sea, which is uncommon amongst rival destinations such as Spain and Italy, Croatia has benefited from a surge in tourism since the Yugoslav wars finished.
According to the Croatian bureau of statistics, reasonable prices and easy accessibility by car has contributed to a tourist boom which saw arrivals and overnight stays jump by 4% in August of this year over the same period last year.
Croatia has been popular with foreigners for many centuries. The Venetians and Romans amalgamated the Dalmatian Coast to their empires. Today, Slovenes, Czechs, Germans, Italians and Austrians are among the nine million visitors who come from January to August.
But fewer than half choose hotels for their accommodation. The remainder prefers self-catering private accommodation, small guesthouses, campsites or other options.
Radonic said that the Belvedere did make some money recently. It now earns about 3,500 Euros a month for the rental of its roof to cellphone towers. The hotel also leases its lobby for boat repairs.
Some say that Croatia’s inclusion in the European Union, scheduled for 2012, will change things around. Investors have some interest for renovating hotels on the Croatian coast.
On the island of Korcula, Croatia’s most populated among more than a 1,000, the government has developed a virtual hotel monopoly around the old town which is similar to the medieval Dubrovnik.
The problem is that indebted hotels have no money to go through the required renovations and several wealthy visitors choose cruise ships or yachts for accommodation.
But Croatia must address problems of past privatizations, unclear laws, muddled ownership corruption, and a poor national investment strategy. It is a country soaking in back room deals and shady business proposals.
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Filed under Europe News, Holiday News, Hotel Chains