August the 29th, 2024 – The well known Vukovar water tower (Vukovarski Vodotoranj) is doing excellent business, with visits and income having significantly increased.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, an impressive 117,090 people visited the Vukovar water tower last year, which marks an increase of almost 40 percent compared to 2021. As reported by tportal, the city company Vukovarski Vodotoranj earned a total of 935,196.99 euros last year, which is an increase of 45.76 percent compared to 2021.
the vukovar water tower – a symbol of croatia’s hope and heroism against serb aggression
The company was founded five years ago by the City of Vukovar, with its headquarters in the recognisable and extremely poignant symbol of Croatia’s hero city on the banks of the Danube. It suffered a tragic 640 direct hits from enemy missiles during Serbian aggression against Croatia in the 1990s.
Standing at an imposing 50.33 metres tall, it was constructed from 1963 to 1968 at an altitude of 156.33 metres in the so-called Najpar bašča. Recently, the Vukovar water tower also finds itself on the list of the World Federation of Great Towers, along with the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Empire State Building in New York, and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Frequent visitors to the Vukovar water tower typically come from river cruises. Last year, it was visited by 27,507 eighth-grade elementary school students from all over the Republic of Croatia as part of an important field education project. There was also a group of students from neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina. Last year, 229 competitors of the “Vukovarski 198” also ran through the tower to the flag on the observation deck.
Several times throughout year, free visits are organised for certain categories of visitors. It was possible to get to the top for free, among other things, during the Night of the Museums, and those who could not be in Vukovar at that time could walk around the tower virtually via the website.
The only time the Vukovar water tower closed was over Easter and Christmas. Last year, the Vukovar water tower had 19 employees, whose average full-time gross salary stood at 1087.54 euros. According to this latest business report, 215,398.94 euros were spent on those employees last year, of which 152,946.45 euros were spent directly on paying out net salaries and wages, tportal writes.
Over 100,000 tickets were sold
The biggest part of the Vukovar water tower’s income is poured into the box office through the sale of tickets. The best seller is the single one for adults usng the inbuilt lift. Last year alone, a total of 101,486 tickets were sold and 886,240.19 euros were earned, while other income amounted to 48,956.80 euros. This represented an increase in total income by 21.79 percent compared to 2022, and a very impressive 45.67 percent more than in 2021. In parallel with that, the number of visitors also increased.
390 thousand euros were paid to Vukovar itself
In addition to revenue, expenses also increased and last year amounted to 872,329.37 euros, which is an increase of 14.26 percent compared to 2022, and 36.58 percent compared to 2021. The report stated that this increase was due to the fee for the right to manage the property, which was the result of an increase in ticket sales and attendance.
At the same time, this is the largest expenditure, amounting to 391,545.65 euros in total. This has to be paid by the Vukovar water tower to the City of Vukovar in the name of the contract for the management of the Homeland War memorial.
All in all, the profit of this recognisable symbol of the Croatian city most synonymous with pain, tragedy, heroism and fortitude at the same time, amounted to 62,867.62 euros last year.
