All figures are rising, except investments in new long-term assets.
The growth of Croatian tourism during the tourist season is usually measured by the number of visitors and overnight stays, but a more complete picture can be obtained by analysing the business activities of entrepreneurs in this industry, reports Večernji List on 12 August 2017.
The analysis of business results of the companies in this sector, which is based on their annual financial statements, has been carried out by the Finance Agency (FINA), and it shows that a significant step forward has been made by the accommodation and catering sector over the past ten years.
Croatia entered this year with 121 percent more tourism businesses than it had in 2007. Their total revenues grew by 79 percent, while the number of employed workers increased by 50 percent compared to ten years ago. The fact that tourism has evolved much faster than the rest of the economy over the period is best demonstrated by comparing it with the overall business statistics. They show that the total number of companies in Croatia in the ten years rose significantly slower, by just 37 percent, while their incomes and the number of employees did not increase at all.
In the tourism industry, Croatia had the total of 9,189 business entities last year, while ten years earlier the number was 4,153. During this period, the total income they earned increased from 13.3 billion kunas to 24 billion kunas, and the number of employees from 42,000 to 63,000. Ten years ago, average salaries in the tourism sector amounted to 3,779 kunas, while last year they were 4,450 kunas. Interestingly, the average salaries of businesses in the accommodation sector were even higher than the average wage at the national level last year (5,577 kunas). However, in the catering industry, the average wage was considerably lower (3,410 kunas).
Since 2007, companies in the tourism industry reported mostly negative annual business results, with the exception of 2013. However, that trend has changed in the last two years, with the last year’s profits reaching 1.4 billion kunas.
According to FINA’s data, the only decrease in the last decade has been recorded with the investments in new long-term assets, which is different from usual statistics which claim that there are many major investment projects in the tourism sector. FINA’s records show that total investments in long-term assets in 2007 amounted to 4.5 billion kunas, and last year they stood at less than half of that figure.
Last year, the three top players in the hotel business, according to annual revenues, were Valamar, Maistra and Plava Laguna, with Valamar leading according to profits. Globalna Hrana from Zagreb is the leader in the catering sector, both by earnings and profits, followed by Pleter-Usluge and Decentia.
Translated from Večernji List.
