An interesting article about the Ethno-Village Kokorići in Vrgorac and its founder and owner Zvonimir Pervan published at the Agroklub.com.
Zvonimir Pervan recalls, that when he seriously set out for family tourism 15 years ago, many looked at his project with derision.
But his work, effort and, of course his persistence, optimism and patience certainly paid off and today, the same people are congratulating him for all those earned awards.
“My ethno-village Kokorić (including Hotel Pervan in Vrgorac)i received the Gold Medal for quality as the best rural tourism estate in the whole Dalmatia. For years, I have been working hard to achieve the best results in rural tourism at the local level, and this award confirms, that we are on the right path and it gives us motivation to work even harder. This award really means a lot, especially because I have shown and proved that (and to what degree) the Vrgorac city can get onto the Croatian map of tourism destinations.
Like every start, mine too was quite difficult. I had a family hotel in Vrgorac and because there was not much of a tourism offer in Vrgorac 15 years ago, I decided to start the ethno-village Kokorići project, in my birthplace to enable the guests to come and see some of our rich cultural heritage – not only renovated stone houses, but also our archaeological and ethno collection – and of course, to taste our food.
It was a hit, so far there was more than 30.000 guests at Kokorići. And this is just the officially recorded number, there must have been many more, who only visited the place unannounced. This is a very significant achievement for Vrgorac area”, says Zvonimir Pervan.
As a part of the ethno-village, Pervan also plans to build an amphitheatre, swimming pool and a tennis court, even bull fights are to be organized.
“At the end, we would like to have a total of 25 renovated stone houses and other buildings. So, in my opinion, the project is at the moment completed to more than 60%. There are still several houses in ruins, that we need to renovate, adjust and put into operation. It is our goal to create an environment to help guests imagine how our ancestors lived centuries ago. In fact, that is what we want to create, a closer picture of their way of life, but at the same time not to loose the connection with the modern era, as we gave to ensure the appropriate infrastructure (electricity, telephone, TV, internet).” says Pervan.
To read the full article, click here.
