ZAGREB, September 23, 2019 (Hina) – The City of Hvar on the island of the same name is the first destination in Croatia to have implemented quality assurance measures for tourist facilities and services and online reputation according IQM (integrated quality management) standards and the ReviewPro global platform, which confirmed its improved quality in all categories compared to 2018, project leader Djurdjica Simicic reported on Monday.
Two experts in tourism and consulting with years of experience Djurdjica Simicic and Anamarija Cicarelli designed the IQM (Integrated Quality Management) Destination standard with the aim of raising the quality of services in tourism and in training of tourism personnel as well as enhancing the destination’s overall brand.
The IQM system is implemented in cooperation with the ReviewPro platform that networks about 150 different websites where guests evaluate and review tourist destinations and services around the world and can analyse previous scores for various destinations in Croatia.
Hvar’s tourism board is implementing the project along with private and public partners that impact the development and quality of a destination.
The project was implemented on a total of 122 tourism facilities in Hvar, 94 were accommodation facilities (hotels, hostels, private accommodation, camps…) and 28 hospitality facilities (restaurants and cafes) and the results for the first eight months of the year indicate that Hvar achieved a higher and better score than for the same period last year.
In the Guest Rating Score (GRS), Hvar achieved a score of 89.5 of the possible 100 points which is 1.7% better year-on-year. The city aims to achieve a score of 90.
Of a total of 10,655 evaluations of services (560 more than last year), the quality of hospitality services were assessed with a score of 96. The score for price compared to quality was 94, location scored 92 and cleanliness 93 points.
Hospitality facilities were given a score of 89.4 or 1.6% higher than last year while the quality of food scored 88.7. The food quality received 88.7 points and services 91, while the ratio of price and quality in the reviews restaurants and cafes was 85.
The project was welcomed by state-secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Tonci Glavina who underscored that the national tourism policy is focused on sustainable and responsible tourism and its development has to satisfy the local population and tourists too.
