About 120 million euro is invested annually in rooms, apartments and houses, and 130 million euro in additional facilities.
Investments in Croatian tourism are growing rapidly in recent years, and this year they could exceed 900 million euro. A Tourism Ministry survey has revealed that tourism companies will invest about 628 million euro, and the counties, towns and municipalities will invest slightly more than 311 million euro, reports Večernji List on February 23, 2018.
Investments in tourism are expected to rise by about 15 percent compared to the last year, and by as much as 40 percent compared to 2016.
As for the family accommodation sector, it is quite difficult to assess the total investments of more than 90,000 households who rent rooms, apartments and houses. But, one thing is sure. The quality in the so-called “zimmer frei” segment is improving as well, which means there are investments undertaken every year.
The Family Tourism Association of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce estimates that the owners invest in their rooms, apartments and houses around 120 million euro (200 euro per bed), and further 130 million euro in additional facilities, such as swimming pools, spas, cycling tourism, children facilities, landscaping, marketing and similar activities. According to estimates, the family accommodation sector generates an annual turnover of 2.5 billion euro.
“One of the key activities that should further enhance the competitiveness of the family accommodation sector is the first national programme for proving loans to the rental owners through the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR). We hope that the programme will start in the second half of this year. The interest rates, including the subsidy of the Ministry of Tourism, should amount to about two percent, with a one-year grace period and a repayment period of up to ten years. The loans should be approved for the renovation of existing capacities, but not for increasing capacity,” said Danijela Čavlović, president of the Family Tourism Association.
The initiative is linked to the re-categorisation of the private accommodation sector, which is a topic which has been discussed for quite some time. “In Croatia, we have hotels, camps and different family accommodation types, which makes us different from competitors, and we have to protect this diversity. We will help the rental owners with HBOR’s loans under favourable conditions. We just need to wait for the Law on Provision of Hospitality Services to be adopted in about four to five months. The owners will then be able to submit requests for the re-categorisation, and the loans will follow,” said Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli.
Banks have also contributed to the growth of the private accommodation sector since they offer more favourable loans for purchasing, upgrading or adaptation of facilities, said Čavlović. They realised that there was a massive potential for the placement of their loans. The owners can already borrow funds at an acceptable interest rate of five percent.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Radmila Kovačević).
