“The biggest single investment this year was made in the upgrade of one of the best family hotels in Croatia – the four-star Valamar Club Tamaris in Porec, in the western coastal region of Istria. The company also invested considerable funds in its nine campsites, mostly in Camping Lanterna near Porec,” the president of the company’s managing board, Peter Fuchs, told SeeNews in an emailed interview.
Valamar has posted an increase of over 30% so far this year in revenues on the meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) segment, which is a key income source in the pre- and post-season.
The group’s top properties on the MICE segment – the four-star-plus Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik and the four-star Valamar Diamant in Porec, operate year-round and offer modern equipment and professional services.
“Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik, which opened in 2009 and at 40 million euro represents our biggest investment, boasts state-of-the-art conference capacity for 1,200 people and is surrounded by four of our other hotels at the Babin Kuk peninsula and this has enabled us to host several large international conferences this year,” Fuchs said, adding that a number of conferences have already been confirmed for 2013 which will ensure the company continues to post steady growth on this segment.
The Valamar group (www.valamar.com) is the leading tourism group in Croatia, running 10% of the country’s categorised accommodation capacity. Its hotels, apartment villages and campsites are situated on the Adriatic coast and can simultaneously accommodate up to 39,000 guests.
The group’s assets are mostly owned by Porec-based Riviera Adria, Croatia's biggest tourism company in terms of revenue and facilities. With a 70% interest, the majority owner of Riviera Adria is Valamar Adria Holding. Both companies are listed on the Zagreb bourse and are components of its 25-share benchmark CROBEX index. The strategic majority shareholder in Valamar Adria Holding - through the umbrella company Valamar Grupa d.d., is Austrian investment company EPIC.
Valamar group's tourist facilities are managed by Valamar Hotels&Resorts. It runs a total of 40 facilities, mostly family-oriented, with four or three stars, which include 23 hotels, eight apartment villages and nine campsites in Istria, Dubrovnik and the Adriatic islands of Krk and Pag.
The properties managed by Valamar Hotels&Resorts boosted revenues by 12% through September while overnights rose 8.0% to 4.08 million, passing for the first time the milestone of 4.0 million overnights.
“The excellent business results are due mostly to our long-term investment programme and the quality of our services. Smart sales channels distribution and revenue management are also important, as well as targeted promotion. We also invest in the training of our employees since high-quality service is a key success factor in the hospitality business,” the official said.
The average room occupancy at Valamar Hotels&Resorts properties so far in 2012 is 63% for a period of 192 days of operation, up slightly from 62% for 186 days of operation last year. Annual revenue per available room increased at all destinations in the first nine months compared to the same period of last year - in Porec and Dubrovnik it was up by 13%, in Krk by 7.0% and in Rabac by 4.0%.
The Valamar group companies plan to invest around 23 million euro to upgrade existing properties, resulting in the launch of two new family-oriented products in 2013.
One of the properties that will be upgraded is Hotel&Casa Valamar Sanfior, a four-star hotel and apartments resort in Rabac. The other investment project will see the rebranding and relaunch of Camping Krk, a four-star eco-friendly campsite in the Kvarner region that will offer accommodation in luxury mobile homes.
Croatia posted a 6.4% growth in overnights to 69.3 million through October. The key feeder markets were Germany – generating nearly 15 million overnights and 13.5% growth, followed by Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Hungary and Russia. Besides Germany, the highest growth rates were posted by Ukraine at 27%, the UK at 23%, and the Scandinavian markets.
“By providing targeted financial support during the off-season, Croatia’s tourism ministry has done a good job in stimulating year-round arrivals. For example, this year we will, for the first time, have direct Croatia Airlines flights to Dubrovnik from some major European cities like Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, London and Zurich. This will have a very positive impact on tourist arrivals to Dubrovnik this winter,” Fuchs said.
