On Thursday, July 28, Obonjan island near Šibenik was due to host the first group of three hundred British tourists who paid for a seven-day stay in the renovated accommodation
This was the plan, but it did not happen as the Obonjan Riviera company, the bearer of a 30-year concession over the island, failed to complete all necessary preparations and the island is not yet ready to accept guests. British investors from the Sound Channel, who together with their tourism operator CMT and Gratiosus company make up the Obonjan Riviera Limited, attempted to explain this great disgrace on their official website and ask guests for understanding, Jutarnji List wrote on July 29, 2016.
“Obonjan Riviera Limited had to make a difficult decision and delay the opening of its resort on Obonjan as the island still has no running water and power. We are aware of the disappointment we will induce with our first clients who are on the way and the inconvenience due to the change in their vacation plans,” as was written in part of a statement from Obonjan Rivijera.
Futhermore, they informed guests they are their disposal in finding alternative arrangements and refunds and expressed their compassion with guests who already arrived to Croatia, admitting they made their cancellation decision too late.
“We ask clients to contact our Croatian team in charge of finding alternative accommodation, as well as our representatives at Split airport. Also, we ask all guests who were due to fly to Croatia on Wednesday, August 3, not to travel, but to cooperate with our team in Great Britain,” Obonjan Rivijera said to guests.
Hardly this is enough to appease many English party goers who already arrived to Croatia for their stay on Obonjan, least of all words of excuse from Obonjan Riviera. Hence many posts by dissatisfied Brits on social networks calling this a “fraud.”
The official statement from Obonjan Rivijera is as follows:
“The official presentation of the Obonjan island project was due to be held on July 28, but we‘ve moved it to Tuesday, August 2. The reason is in the fact there are technical infrastructure difficulties with water and power. Responsibility to our clients and business partners demands we ensure maximum quality and service level, so we are committed to offer relevant infrastructure level that will ensure necessary comfort and normal and uninterrupted work on Obonjan. All guests who wished to visit the island these days, during our trial week, before the official opening, and have arrived to Šibenik, have been taken care of by our tour operator, one of the investors in the project. We sincerely regret the situation, but are also doing everything in our power to ensure premium comfort for our guests due to arrive from August 3 on Obonjan. Even these problems will not affect the arrival of first guests next week and our ability to secure a complete tourism experience to them.”
