| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 19/11/01 |
| Author: | Page Number: 23 |
| Copyright: Other |
Government sell-off
Croatia plans hotels revamp
A MAJOR renovation of Croatia’s crumbling hotel stock is expected to begin shortly, as the government looks to sell off 250 state-owned properties.
Many hotels remain bullet-ridden following the war in the early 1990s, and some are uninhabitable.
The sell-off is expected to lead to a huge investment both from the government and private companies to restore the properties.
Tourism minister Pave Zupan Ruskovic said the growth of tourism was reliant on the renovation of hotels.
“The country has 40,000 fewer rooms than before the war began, which will hold back expansion,” he said.
“We had 100,000 visitors from the UK this summer, which may not seem that many compared to the 400,000 we had in the year before the war, but three or four years ago it was nothing. We saw a 35% rise this summer and to get back to pre-war numbers we need more hotel capacity.”
She estimated the redevelopment would be funded jointly through government loans and private investment and take about three years to complete. Ruskovic said it was also crucial to attract charters to Croatia.
Meanwhile, tourism chiefs have signed up Wimbledon tennis champion Goran Ivanisevic to push sales in the UK.
Upgrade:a government hotel sell-off is expected to lead to strong investment throughout Croatia