Vegeta’s success is an excellent example to follow.
Good-quality local products must become more prominent in Croatian tourism, which as an export activity that can contribute to better competitiveness and increase producers’ revenues. That was the central message of the event “Croatian products for Croatian tourism”, held in Zagreb and organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), reports tportal.hr on November 22, 2017.
This initiative, which is part of the broader “Let’s Buy Croatian” drive by the HGK, brought together 65 exhibitors, large and small manufacturing companies, family farms, craftsmen and others, as well as numerous hoteliers, caterers and other representatives of the tourism sector, who discussed possible cooperation and deals.
Noting that the “Let’s Buy Croatian” initiative has already resulted in co-operation between the tourism industry and manufacturers, family farms and others, HGK president Luka Burilović emphasised that, due to great interest and limited space, they had to limit the number of exhibitors. “There are more and more companies which want to connect with Croatian tourism. Such cooperation is immensely important for the entire Croatian economy, and events such as this further contribute to the promotion of Croatian products, which should have a more prominent role in tourism, with Croatian hotel chains using more local products,” said Burilović.
The importance of stronger links between Croatian tourism and producers, especially those from the food, construction and wood sectors, was also pointed out by Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli, who said that in some hotel chains, such as Jadranka from Mali Lošinj, Bluesun Group and others, Croatian products already had a share of more than 70 percent. “With growing investments in tourism, which should next year exceed one billion euros, all good-quality Croatian products will find their place in tourism,” said Cappelli. He added that the next tourist year is expected to be dynamic, especially during the pre-season and post-season.
Marko Jurčić, an adviser to President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, said that linking tourism and Croatian producers was essential for the competitiveness of both, adding that “tourism needs to double its revenues and halve its share in GDP, which now amounts to about 20 percent, which would mean that other sectors have become stronger.”
Assessing that there are still not enough Croatian products used by the tourism industry, CEO of Podravka Marin Pucar pointed out that his company is present in hotels and other tourist establishments and that tourism is crucial for its exports. “Vegeta has achieved its success mostly due to tourism, because of tourists from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, who were spending their holidays in Croatia, bought and took the product to their own countries, which stimulated demand for exports to those countries. Nowadays, Vegeta has more than 50 percent of the market in some of these countries,” Pucar said.
Goran Filipović, a member of Jadranka’s management board, and Jako Andabak, the owner of the Sunce-Bluesun Group, pointed out that their representatives were continually looking for employees and high-quality products and partnerships but faced challenges due to unorganized agricultural production and family farms, logistics and transport problems, and insufficient quantities of fresh goods that can be bought.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism Tonči Glavina discussed the problem of the lack of workers in tourism. “In recent years, hotels have been increasingly investing in the purchase of domestic and local products, but also in improving working conditions, higher salaries and the construction of accommodation units their own employees. The process is underway, and we believe in better results in the future,” Glavina said.
Translated from tportal.hr
