Valamar Opening MICE Valamar Lacroma in Dubrovnik

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. February 12, 2009

FEBRUARY 12, 2009 - Last year's tourist season was rough and challenging for the largest tourist group in Croatia, Valamar. However, a 3% increase in income was achieved when compared to the previous year. Valamar expects recurrence of good results it achieved last year, but the greatest challenge will be opening of the largest congress and spa hotel in Dubrovnik, Valamar Lacroma Resort, this spring. The same was announced at the press conference held by the management of Valamar in Zagreb last Tuesday.

Zrinko Kamber, a member of the Board for sales and marketing, emphasised that the business results in postseason were greatly influenced by the global crisis.

"Despite all that, we have had both an increase in income and in occupancy of accommodation units, which increased in 2008 by 6% in hotels and apartments, and by significant 17% in camps compared to the year before. Overnight stays of individual guests increased by 4% compared to the previous year.

This year, in spring, we have in store opening of Valamar Lacroma Resort, the largest congress and spa hotel in Dubrovnik. This two-year capital investment cost about HRK 250 million (45 million $), and we expect it to provide a new dimension of service quality within the group, to further increase our income, and to strengthen out position in the market in MICE (congress) segment' said Zrinko Kamber, Valamar's member of the Board for sales and marketing.

He listed a series of novelties that Valamar undertook on the web, applying finest world hotel industry practice and introducing the same into Croatian hotel industry. 'We introduced a blog last year, and this year we have introduced Valamar TV application where, among other tings, we plan to feature our guests' home videos, awarding the best by free stays at our facilities. For these novelties we received awards by Istria County Tourist Association for 'marketing communication in tourism of the highest quality' two years in a row.

Peter Fuchs, Valamar's president of the board, spoke of Valamar's investments both in its facilities and its employees. He emhasised that the said tourist group will continue on expanding the Valamar brand, therefore considerable means shall be invested in branding of Valamar Dubrovnik President Hotel. The biggest challenge shall, without any doubt, be the opening of Valamar Lacroma Resort, a hotel with 400 rooms, a hall for 1000 people, a wellness zone spreading on almost 1000 m2, as well as numerous bars and restaurants. The hotel shall employ 200 new workers.

'Apart from investing HRK 250 million (45 million $) in Valamar Lacroma Resort, we shall invest about HRK 100 million (17 million $) this year in other facilities. In the past five years we have invested over HRK 911 million (160 million $) in reconstruction and for increasing the quality of our facilities, said Fuchs.

He stressed importance of employees in tourism and of advanced training programmes which include over 26,000 hours annually, as well as continuous development programmes for new generations of Valamar academy attendants who are being trained for positions of future facilities directors and department managers, employment of interns, providing scholarships for high school students of tourist orientation, but also for low-income faculty and high school students. 'The aim of Valamar is to keep the existing, and attract new high-quality people. I wish to stress that, since 2005, we have been in possession of the Employer Partner Certificate for excellence in human resource management', pointed out Fuchs.

Valamar's president of the board closed the press conference by commenting on the influence of the global economic crisis for Valamar's business activities in this year. As he pointed out, this year shall be stressful for Croatian tourism and hotel industry, to say the least. 'Only the best, most adaptable, most creative and those offering 'value form money' will survive in the fight for each single guest. I include our group in those who will survive, since its size, financial strength, the strength of our employees, our internal organization as well as our investments on quality make it capable of overcoming numerous challenges. By reducing expenses in all business segments, we have drafted several scenarios in order to adapt to the incoming crisis and conditions in the market. Despite global crisis, we shall continue with investment in our employees and facilities with the purpose of even greater increase in quality of services' said Peter Fuchs concluding that Valamar plans to use the future period to increase the strength of its team and to keep the status of most desirable employer in the region.