Croatia’s Lošinj Hotels & Villas is improving its connectivity including with a plan for a new runway extension to broaden its MICE appeal. Simon George reports.
ecluded and serene, Čikat Bay situated on the Croatian island of Lošinj in the northern Adriatic, exudes natural beauty, privacy and a sense of wellness, characteristics not lost on Austro-Hungarian aristocracy more than a century ago. So impressed was Emperor Franz Josef with the location and its recuperative air, that he installed his mistress, Katharina, in one of the villas (Karolina) that grace the bay. The potential for both leisure and business tourism did not escape the attention of Jadranka Turizam either, whose portfolio of luxurious properties, marketed through the brand, Lošinj Hotels & Villas (LH & V), is concentrated in the area.
I inspected two high-end villas, the Sea Princess Nika and the Captain’s Villa Rouge, and two 5-star hotels, the Bellevue and the Boutique Hotel Alhambra, belonging to LH & V; and spoke with Milan Pejić, the group’s head of MICE and Zoran Pejovic, chief growth and strategy officer at Jadranka Turizam, who described the group’s ambitious plans to build another 5-star hotel with significant meetings capacity close to the Bellevue. There will be a golf course, and, crucially, a potential to be a real game-changer for LH & V – expanding the island’s airport, a project that will certainly require significant funding.
As Pejovic explains: “The development of the local airport will significantly enhance accessibility to the island.”
Palatial villas
LH &V offers five high-end villas overlooking Čikat Bay including the recently renovated seven-bedroom villa, Sea Princess Nika which opened in June and can be adapted for weddings and small meetings and offers a plush home cinema room. The Captain’s Villa Rouge, Villa Hygeia, Villa Mirasol and Villa Hortensia complete LH &V’s villa portfolio.
The 206-room (including 21 suites) Bellevue hotel with its art deco, ocean liner façade offers the largest meeting facilities in LH & V’s portfolio. Its biggest conference room holds 350 people and there are two smaller event spaces adjoining the hotel’s terrace.
During my stay, the Bellevue was hosting a two-day conference for Belopo, a Croatian pharmaceutical company, and Pejić reports bookings are 40% up year on year in Q1.
In April the hotel hosted Loop, a luxury MICE travel trade show attended by 300 agents, mostly from the DACH market (German, Austria, Switzerland). A classic car auction event was held at the end of May and in June the hotel held a launch event for the new Porsche Taycan, which will be followed by a marketing event for Armani fragrances (L’Oréal Luxe).
The neighbouring Boutique Hotel Alhambra has two meeting rooms, each with capacity for 18 people theatre style, and a wood-panelled library that can host boardroom-style meetings.
Both hotels offer luxurious, award-winning spas.
Activities that can be packaged in with any stay include wine tasting, yachting (on the Catriona II)
swimming and exploring nearby islands (i.e. Susak, Ilovik), biking, or you take a guided tour to Mali and Veli Lošinj, ending up at Providenca for drinks and the perfect viewpoint over the island.
Pejić says the focus is on small groups/incentives (up to 50 rooms), which can be easily be transferred from Croatia’s main international airports. “We are planning to extend the airfield by 900 metres, which means Airbus 320s could land.” Planning permission for the airport expansion has been approved, but completion date is yet to be announced.
The group is also in the process of tying up contracts with boat companies to bring in big groups from Pula, the nearest airport on the mainland, in less than an hour. n
