New Deal Europe Weekly Update on Tourism in the Balkan Region, Week 17
News from the destinations: Croatia
In the week when New Deal Europe launches as a live event, we devote this week’s interview to one of our keynote panellists, Antonia Urlić, from luxury Croatian hotel chain, Stories Hotels. Antonia will be joining our live seminar on Monday to discuss how all enterprises working in tourism can learn from each other, and support each other through this crisis. Here she shares her views on the situation in Croatia and describes how the luxury market is faring in the current downturn.
NDE: Can you tell us about Stories Hotels and the company’s place in the tourism infrastructure of Croatia?
AU: Stories, Croatian Unique Hotels is a collection of small, luxury and unique hotels in Croatia. All were very carefully selected and had to meet strict criteria, the main one being the offer of a unique and authentic experience. They are boutique sized, up to 60 rooms, always having a special location and a restaurant that offers an amazing gourmet experience. Stories hotels can be found hidden in secluded coastal coves, or tucked away in thousand-year-old UNESCO protected town centres. They can be a luxurious castle once belonging to the nobles, or a rich merchant’s manor. One is even in a Roman Emperor’s palace. All the hotels are located along the Adriatic Coast from Istria to Dubrovnik.
NDE: Thank you. They sound amazing. I should say it’s great to have you on our keynote session panel with all your experience of luxury travel and tourism in Croatia. You have worked as the Director of tourism for the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, and had senior marketing roles at Valamar, one of the largest hotel and campsite operators in the country, as well as having been head of promotions at Croatia Airlines. We look forward to hearing you speak on Monday.
AU: Thank you. Our association was founded within the Croatian Chamber of Economy, following the vision of several leading small and luxury hotels in Croatia to achieve collective representation on strategic markets. We also sought to position Croatia on the map of luxury travel. The Croatian Chamber of Economy has been actively supporting the association since its foundation in 2017 and we’ve also had continuous support and recognition from the Croatian National Tourist Board.
NDE: So talking of Croatia, how is the situation in the country at the moment? Are the borders open? How is the government controlling things?
AU: Thanks to a good epidemiological situation and early prevention measures, Croatia was able to open its borders to tourists in May. While tourists can enter Croatia, conditions regarding their entrance differ depending on their country of origin. All tourists have to follow instructions and recommendations of the Croatian Institute of Public Health and overall safety and hygiene measures they recommend, as well as social distancing. At this moment the overall situation is good.
NDE: And what is the Government doing to support you?
Tourism being the most important sector in Croatia, we get strong support from the Government and fast reactions. Already from March 23rd the Employment Agency made special subsidies available to employers in order to cover basic salaries. This was a measure greatly used by hotels. According to the Ministry of Labour and Pensions and the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, at the end of May this measure covered 37% of all employees in Croatia. Several tourism-specific tax reliefs were also implemented.
NDE: As you have made clear, your hotels are positioned in the luxury segment, which is often seen as being immune to crisis. Would you say this is the case now, or is this crisis different?
True, the luxury market is more resilient to crisis. However, this global-level crisis cannot be compared to any past crisis. For the first time in history there were simultaneous worldwide travel restrictions and border closings. Of course, this had an immediate negative impact on the luxury tourism market in Croatia where the overall epidemiological situation was and is good. With no flights and closed borders our guests had no way to reach us. As soon as the borders were open all Stories hotels in Istria and Kvarner, easily reachable by car, had a fast pick-up while our hotels in Dalmatia, mostly dependant on air travellers, faced a much slower pick-up.
NDE: So some hotels are doing better than others.
AU: Yes, like I said, the ones that were easily reachable by car were winners since there was a lack of international flights, but over all, and compared to the projections made in Spring, most of the hotels did well during the Summer period.
In normal conditions the primary markets for Stories hotels are US and UK along with German speaking markets for our hotels in the northern part of the Adriatic.
NDE: I’m sure that some things were different this Summer. What would you say were the main differences between the client base in 2020 and in previous years?
AU: In normal conditions the primary markets for Stories hotels are US and UK along with German speaking markets for our hotels in the northern part of the Adriatic. This summer all hotels faced a significant change in feeder markets where the majority of guests were from the markets close to Croatia including domestic guests. Croatia was this summer, in a way, discovered as a luxury destination by the guests from markets such as Poland, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary… that usually choose long-haul trips and have not perceived Croatia as a destination that can offer an authentic luxury experience. Also, there was a significant rise in average length of stay indicating that people want to spend more quality time in one place.
NDE: That is quite a shift in the geographical split. Are you doing anything different to attract business at the moment?
AU: These are challenging times where all hotels adjust to situation changes on a daily basis. Since it is almost impossible to predict how the market will react, the hotels come up with new creative solutions. They implemented extremely flexible cancellation policies and special value-added offers to attract new business. We are focusing our efforts on creating unique experiences that will provide our guests with even deeper, personal and transformative experiences. Also we are creating additional content, a series of digital experiences and unique stories of Stories hotels to enhance our message.
We are focusing our efforts on creating unique experiences that will provide our guests with even deeper, personal and transformative experiences.
NDE: And what additional measures are you putting in place to guarantee people’s safety?
AU: All hotels operate in compliance with instructions from the Croatian Institute of Public Health which monitors the situation in Croatia and the world on a daily basis, and adjusts the recommendations and procedures accordingly. Following the main instructions, the hotels are putting great effort into ensuring that staff and guests follow all the necessary recommendations.
NDE: Going back to your markets, how important is the leisure market to your business and what are your plans for it?
AU: The leisure market is the primary market of Stories Hotels. We’ll continue with all activities in order to attract business and influence recovery.
NDE: When do you think this recovery will come, and business will get back to normal, and what makes you think this?
AU: It is very hard within these conditions to predict when will business get back to normal since it completely depends on the epidemiological situation on the planet. At this stage we can’t know what the outcome or duration of this pandemic will be. Based on our experience this year the business could get back to normal only when travel restrictions end and air traffic reaches its usual dynamic. People want to travel, they can’t wait to travel again, but they want to feel safe and secure and feel the freedom of movement and connectivity.
NDE: So do you think travel will be any different in the future, and if so how will that impact the luxury segment in particular?
AU: I believe that people will want to spend as much quality time as possible, in their day to day life as well as while travelling. They will no longer want to just pop from one place to another in order to take a photo and move further — especially in the luxury segment where they will continue to search for unique and personal experiences that enrich their lives.
NDE: How do you think you will work with tour operators and travel agents, moving forward?
AU: Crisis or no crisis, our relationships with travel professionals were always based on creating long-term partnerships, and this will continue.
NDE: If tour operators would like to work with you, what do they need to do?
AU: All they have to do is contact us and we will take it from there. We enjoy recommending the best Stories Hotel for their next authentic luxury experience.
NDE: Thank you Antonia. We look forward to seeing you on 5th October at the New Deal Europe live panel broadcast to discuss how we can all support each other with ideas, strategies, and best practice to get through the crisis. I can see that you have many ideas to share, and I’m sure everyone will benefit from your contribution.
Questions by Robert Dee, co-founder of New Deal Europe, a travel forum and marketplace that brings together tour operators, tourist boards, and suppliers with a focus on the Balkan region of Europe, www.newdealeurope.com.
