As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, with the recently obtained building permit, the first greenfield hotel-tourist project of the Swedish-Croatian entrepreneur Darko Pervan is starting its full realisation in the form of Hotel Slano.
In the public eye, Darko Pervan is most perceived for having made significant investments in the domestic wood processing industry and for the successful operation of several export-oriented wood companies in Ogulin, Bjelovar and Otok, which are all now in great investment momentum. Over more recent days, the process of ownership takeover of Vinkovci-based DI Spacva into the system of Darko Pervan’s Bjelin Group is coming as on as the ”icing on the cake”.
However, in parallel with these activities, Pervan’s investments in the hotel, tourism and real estate business in the attractive area of Dubrovnik and its wider surroundings have been taking place for more than a decade and a half. More broadly speaking for the Croatian hotel industry, in which greenfield investments in the past period were not the dominant form of investment, it has marked a significant step forward.
The Hotel Slano project otherwise covers an area of 10,000 m2 and the new facility’s planned value stands at around 18 million euros. Hotel Slano, when it starts operating, will be a four star hotel, but only in the initial phase of business, since the investment project envisages new hotel construction according to the highest category standards, as was confirmed by Stjepan Vojinic, a member of the Management Board of Pervanovo Group, who is also the President of Bjelin Group.
“By the end of the year, an invitation will be sent out to the contractors,” said Vojinic, adding that immediately after the selection of bidders, the Hotel Slano project will start because the goal is for the new hotel to start operating in time for 2024’s summer tourist season.
At the same time, it is the second hotel in a row from the Pervanovo group. The first is the Hotel Kazbek, a restored Renaissance castle that was owned by the Zamanja family. The total investment in this part of the business together with the investment in Hotel Slano has risen to around 85 million euros.
With about 20 apartments in Dubrovnik and a number of villas (for example the Villa Riva Apartments, Villa Tereza in Cilipi, and Villa Franica in Dubrovnik), these latest operations mark the completion of the renovation of the former Ohmucevic family palace, which will operate as a residential villa.
The Bjelin Group consolidated to around 700 million kuna in revenue in 2021, and after a series of acquisitions, with the latest being that of Spacva, it completed the period of growth based on this leverage. This means, as Vojinic pointed out, that in the coming period the plan is to realise growth that is organic – by increasing production and sales, with the factors they have mastered, such as human resources and raw material base. Today, with a total of 1,750 employees, of which Spacva has 840, the Bjelin Group is the largest employer in the wood processing industry.
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