- CREN - Croatian Real Estate Newsletter

Where are the sources of greatest potential?We have approximately 15 destinations, which can become the basis for buildingvalues, which would make all-year tourism possible – from Dubrovnik to Umag.These are destinations, which already have the strength for global marketing anddistribution. There is no need to re-invent the wheel, but only to establish projectsoriented towards supporting this basic vision of all-year tourism within our maintourism clusters of Istria, Kvarner, Dalmatia and Dubrovnik. In order to reduce theinvestment risks for investors, these projects should certainly involve new businessdevelopment models and new models of tourism property management. It should beup to the market and investors to decide which tourism products should be developedbesides the sun and sea (golf, health, congress etc). The state, on the other hand,has to encourage these new investments through special subsidies.You are the consultant for Brijuni Riviera...This project is at a standstill due to the crisis, but also due to some unresolvedobstacles concerning land. It is difficult to say now when construction will begin, but itis certain that this project can be supported by the market, and it will surely come tolife some day.What is the role of the local community – to what extent are our cities andcounties ready for the public-private-partnership model?I have no faith in the public-private-partnership model in tourism. I do not believe thatour local communities are yet mature enough to take large steps forward in thetourism industry. The incentives have to come from abroad, but in a transparent way,and the developers/investors have to be able to prove that their projects are in thebest interest of the well-being of the local community. I believe that the crisis willdiscard most projects envisaged by local communities as unrealistic, not thoughtthroughor speculative. I believe that the time of realistic and reasonable thinkingabout our investments in tourism is yet to come.What would you describe as the crucial problem of Croatian tourism?If you do not allow renowned foreign investors to enter this sector, observing theinternational rules of the game in this industry, then it is clear what the crucialproblem of our tourism is. It is xenophobia and corruption, and everything elsefollows. If you cannot operate in tourism, as you can – for instance – in Austria, bothin terms of investment procedures and in terms of state support to tourismmanagement and marketing, then these are the reasons why we are still weak andinefficient in the use of our resources. In order to change tourism, Croatia has tochange first, and we hope that we are getting closer to these changes to ourcivilization, as we are progressing in our negotiations with the EU.CREN - Croatian Real Estate Newsletter / March 2009. 20 / 30