There’s almost not a single business related to the nautical tourism in Croatia that hasn’t achieved record numbers this year, at the same time revealing a major problem that has been hampering the development of this extremely successful part of the Croatian economy.
Academy for Education and Training of Boat, Mega Yacht and Charter Yacht Crews will be launched soon, reports Hrturizam.hr, on August 28, 2017.
From the end of April until the end of August, there have been many numerous types of vessels, from cruise ships to mega yachts with world-famous jet-setters, businessmen and sportsmen on board sailing in Croatia, while at the same time, there has been a lack of educated and experienced crews for such vessels. Also, the market lacks virtually everything concerning the charter vessel crew, including skippers, stewards, hostesses, chefs, sailors, cleaners etc. Poorly and insufficiently qualified crews on boats are a major obstacle in positioning Croatia as a top boat charter and sailing destination.
With this in mind and with the aim of enhancing the quality of nautical tourism in Croatia, the Education and Training of Boat, Mega Yacht and Charter Yacht Crews is being launched.
Bearing in mind this great shortage in Croatian nautical tourism, and with his rich experience in this kind of tourism and systematic study of its flaws, entrepreneur and project manager Davor Grbić from Dubrovnik, along with colleagues from Split, Tomislav Slavić and Ivan Lokica, will launch the first Academy for Charter Boat Crews in Croatia by STCW and ISO standards this autumn.
“The goal of our initiative is to provide to nautical tourists, who are guests with high-income, what they deserve, and that is an experienced, well-educated, capable and high-quality crew for chartering boats that Croatia now does not have. If we want to be considered as one of the top sailing destinations, then besides the stunning nature and beautiful sea, we have to build and offer a high-quality infrastructure, which means that along with marinas along the entirety of the coast, we also must have a trained and quality crew at disposal. This is exactly the goal and vision of the first Academy for Education and Training of Boat, Mega Yacht and Charter Yacht Crews. All the participants who meet our very demanding requirements will be taken under our wings and guaranteed a job in the industry,” says entrepreneur Davor Grbić, who already has more than 40 highly-trained charter commanders, engineers, sailors, chefs and stewardess in his database of associates and collaborators.
The launch and the opening of the Academy and educational programmes intended for future and present crews in order to produce most effective work and obtain positive work results in nautical tourism is already fully prepared for implementation, and will start enrolling the first trainees in autumn. “Having in mind that our educational programmes will ‘send out’ high-quality and educated crews, I am glad to announce that many foreign investors, with whom we are already negotiating, are especially looking forward to this new ‘product’ of Croatian nautical tourism; from charter companies to larger companies which are interested in taking over and purchasing some of the marinas in Dalmatia as well as companies who are involved in the management of the marinas, where the trained crews will be working soon after the education”, says Davor Grbić.
Despite the fact that the Academy will be starting in autumn, initiators and founders of the academy have already received dozens of inquiries for education and participation in lectures, which is certainly a good indication that such Academy is very much needed in Croatia.
Translated from Hrturizam.hr
