As Glas Istre/Aleta Brattoni writes on the 21st of December, 2019, next year’s novelty from the Porec Tourist Board will be the Best Of Porec brochure, the idea behind which is to offer visitors, as well as locals, the best gastronomic and local souvenirs in the entire Porec area, with an emphasis on those in Porec’s beautiful Old Town.
In 2020, the Porec Tourist Board plans for revenues of almost 20.8 million kuna, which represents an increase of five percent when compared to the plan revised in 2019, and expenditures of 20.7 million kuna, which in turn represents an increase of 17 percent. More specifically, the proposal for rebalancing for 2019 estimates the total revenue of 19.6 million kuna and expenditures of 17.8 million kuna, which would generate a surplus of 1.8 million kuna that would be carried forward into 2020.
In addition, at the Assembly of the Porec Tourist Board, which was held this Thursday, an overview of the first nine months of the current year was presented and projections for the next nine were presented. It was revealed that in the year up until now, the total number of overnight stays in Porec amounted to 3.3 million, which was two percent higher than in 2018, with Croatian tourists generating 135,749 overnight stays, which represents a growth of nine percent, and foreign tourists generating 3,192.199 overnight stays, an increase of two percent.
When it comes to overnight stays, Europeans make up the big figures. The highest number of overnight stays realised in the aforementioned nine-month period was achieved by the German market with 917 thousand overnight stays, which is two percent less than last year, followed by the Austrian market with 548.5 thousand overnight stays, marking a 4 percent increase compared to last year. In third place come the Slovenes with 343 thousand overnight stays realised, which is 4 percent more than last year. In fourth place come the Italians, followed by the British market.
In the period under review, 1.8 million overnight stays were realised in Porec’s hotel accommodation, which represents a one percent increase over last year. Private accommodation recorded 799.5 thousand overnight stays, or a one percent increase, while campsites generated 316 thousand overnights, which is two percent more than in the same period in 2018.
Next year, according to the announcements of the director of the Porec Tourist Board, Nenad Velenik, will be a year with a budget, and also of big challenges.
”We’ve seen and felt the return of Turkey, Greece and North Africa to the tourism market in recent years, but in 2020, we expect an even stronger return, which we’ll definitely have to count on. The migrant crisis is also a risk, in particular the Balkan route, which can be a threat to Croatia. In addition, the Brexit issue will also be a very sensitive issue for us, given that we’ve invested heavily in the British market over the past 5-6 years, as well as launching and bringing in new airlines which fly to Pula. Finally, let us not forget the big problem of finding a workforce, as well as that of the non-competitiveness of Croatian tourism,” Velenik stated.
In spite of numerous risks, the Porec Tourist Board is stepping confidently into 2020 with innovation and projects. Some of the Porec Tourist Board’s general goals for next year are to increase tourist traffic in the pre-season and post-season, stabilse tourist traffic, strengthen the positioning of outdoor and family destinations, diversify tourist products, increase consumption per guest, and improve the stay of guests in the destination.
Among the many presented projects underway and those planned, it’s worth pointing out investments in hotel facilities and the alteration of their structure, as well as the continuation of investments in doing up beaches.
Namely, in October 2019, the Valamar Riviera hotel company started the largest project in Croatian tourism. In the Porec zone, Pical will realise the investment of Hotel Pine, worth a total of 790 million kuna, the completion of which is planned for the 2021 tourist season. It will be a luxury five-star luxury hotel with 514 accommodation units, which will include the largest hotel event centre in Istria with an impressive congress capacity of 1,200 guests.
In addition, the Porec Tourist Board will invest capital investments into the water playground at Materada beach and co-finance the first phase of the Porec waterfront’s much needed renovation, from the customs pier to the city cafes.
In addition, the plans for 2020 envisag the co-financing of the construction of city facades in the city centre, which directly influence the standard and quality of the overall urban order. The Porec Tourist Board will work on the popularisation of bike lanes and on strengthening the perception of Porec as a bike friendly destination. It will continue to financially support entertainment, sport, cultural, artistic and other events aimed at promoting or enriching the area.
”When it comes to organisation of events, we’re an example for the whole of Croatia to follow, and the confirmation of the good cooperation between the private and public sectors is the recently won award for Advent in Porec, in which, in addition to the City of Porec, the Porec Tourist Board, Blue Lagoon (Plava Laguna) and Valamar, all institutions, numerous associations, and private companies work, as do the citizens themselves. Next year, we are expecting the fifth edition,” announced the Mayor of Porec, Loris Persuric.
Next year’s novelty will be, as previously mentioned, the new Best Of Porec brochure.
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