Whisper it quietly, but a small hotel group in Istria is speading its wings and demonstrating friendly quality along the way, as TCN discovered on at the Aminess Hotels and Campsites rebranding party in Novigrad on June 1, 2016.
With so many hotels along the Adriatic coast and islands, all offering essentially the same summer ingredient – sun and sea – it can be a little hard to stand out from the crowd. For many of these hotels, the season is the summer only, and it is not uncommon to have many of these hotels open for just six months a year. While Croatia has the potential for 12-month tourism, and hotels which could therefore be open all year, it has yet to live up to its year-round potential.
But there are exceptions…
I was delighted to accept an invitation by Aminess Hotels and Campsites to the presentation of their new brand at Aminess Hotel Maestral earlier this week. I have been aware of the company, previously known as Laguna Novigrad, for more than a year now, and it has been a pleasure to watch developments in this dynamic company which is a shining example of how things should be done in the Croatian hospitality industry.
An evening of fine hospitality and entertainment for about 100 partners and press started at the Punto Mare beach in front of Aminess Hotel Maestral to live music, an idyllic setting in the expansive grounds of the main Aminess complex in Novigrad, which contains two hotels and campsites.
Formed in 1970, the company Laguna Novigrad was focused exlusively in the Istrian coastal resort of the same name until recent acquisitions took them into Dalmatia for the first time, adding two four-star hotels in Orebic on Peljesac and Brna on Korcula to the company portfolio, a move which necessitated a changing of name from Laguna Novigrad.
For a company aspiring to be the best, they hired the best, and a comprehensive rebranding research and development programme was undertaken, with top Croatian design company Carli and Sosa engaged to create the new company identity. TCN readers may already be familiar with the work of Igor Carli and Goran Sosa after our report on the rebranding of Bol last year. And while the rebranding process was ongoing, Croatia’s premier photographers, Romulic and Stojcic were hired to help with the promotional material, including an official promo video, which you can see below.
One of the keys to the success of Aminess has been the dynamism and energy of their extremely young management team, who were all invited to the stage and thanked for their efforts and contributions, see below.
And the numbers are certainly impressive, as were revealed in an excellent Carli and Sosi brand presentation video, which you can find at the bottom of this article. Some simple numbers will suffice to tell part of the story:
Overnight stays – 459,343 to 725,872 from 2010 to 2015
Revenue – 17.4 million euro in 2013 to 24.4 million in 2015
Employees – 240 in 2009 to 460 in 2015
There has also been a great improvement in quality, financed partly by an investment of 20.7 million euro in recent years. This has resulted in campsites Park Mareda and Sirena being upgraded from three stars to four. Plans moving forward include the renovation of Aminess Hotel Laguna in Novigrad into a four-star hotel, as well as the addition of wellness centres in Aminess Hotel Luma on Korcula and Aminess Grand Azur Hotel in Orebic. A congress centre is also planned, and innovations such as the unique Mirami Family Village in Novigrad are further indications of the increase in quality and desire to meet the needs of guests.
It is quality that has been recognised consistently by the hotel and campsite industries.
After comprehensive research, Igor Carli (left) and Goran Sosa (right) – seen here with part of the Aminess marketing team – developed the brand Aminess – Lasting Relations, based on all the feedback from extensive interviews with all the various stakeholders – guests, partners, employees. A key theme (and one I can certainly vouch for) that kept recurring was the friendly, professional service which was experienced by the vast majority of respondents. The French word for friend – ami – was therefore incorporated into the brand. It is also important to note the Lasting Relations, as the company has an outstanding repeat rate of returning guests, which many coming year on year for 30 years, often declaring that they feel they are returning home among friends.
A key part of the Aminess success story has been the company’s attempts to attract an ever wider pool of client, focusing not just on the summer beach season, but looking for year-round solutions – and with considerable success. Novigrad is known as one of the top sports training destinations on the Adriatic coast, attracting the calibre of tennis stars such as Serena Williams and many football, handball and other sporting clubs, including the Manchester City Academy for its annual winter training.
And, as one would expect for a hotel which prides itself on its friendly hospitality, it was quite a party… But we will leave that story for another time.
I do encourage you to watch the Aminess brand presentation video prepared by Carli and Sosa – refreshingly different from most of the promotional material offered in Croatia.
