A new entrant into the Croatian hotel market.
After developing a successful business in the production of beds and mattresses which are exported and sold to some of the most famous international hotel chains, entrepreneur Bernarda Cecelja is turning towards health tourism and will invest 40 million kuna in a hotel in Varaždinske Toplice, reports Poslovni.hr on December 9, 2015.
It will not be the first Cecelja’s investments in tourism, since her company Bernarda Nova has already built and started renting apartments and two villas on the island of Krk. Also, this year the company took over a boarding house in Varaždinske Toplice where it will soon open a new restaurant. “After we have solved the issues with ownership of the land on which we plan to implement the project, we have started drafting the design for the building with about 30 rooms and indoor and outdoor pools with thermal water. The plan is to provide physical therapy services and to connect ourselves with local family farms which will supply us with their products, so that we can serve healthy food grown in our region, which is well-known for having no industrial pollution. In addition to local businesses which will be involved in the project, the facility would initially employ about 30 people. Given the complexity of the project, which will partially involve conservation experts because it is located in an old centre of Varaždinske Toplice, the plan is to complete the hotel within five years”, Bernarda Cecelja explained, adding that the project has the support of local authorities.
Cecelja was born in Varaždinske Toplice and has decided to invest in her home region due to good prospects for further development of the Varaždinske Toplice Special Hospital. “This area has a great potential for the development of health tourism, but currently lacks accommodation and we hope that our investment will at least partly solve this problem”, Bernarda Cecelja said. Today she will meet with Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin to discuss the investment plans.
Cecelja is satisfied with the cooperation with the Ministry and banks which have enabled her to continue operating the boarding house which she took over from former owners together with repayment of loans. She will finance the project with her own funds and partly through loans, but also plans to apply for money from the European funds.
The new hotel will be equipped with products from Bernarda company which makes 70 percent of its revenues from exports of equipment to global hotel chains such as Kempinski, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Sheraton, Intercontinental, Marriott, Falkensteiner… “In Croatia, we have equipped many hotels, from Falkensteiner in Zadar to Antunović in Zagreb and Excelsior in Dubrovnik. We have strong references and growing demand”, the entrepreneur said.
