Croatia`s - Meetpie.com
Transcription
Croatia`s - Meetpie.com
CROATIA ATENS Robin Anderson reports on Croatia’s burgeoning reputation for events Laid-back in Split The Mediterranean as it used to be W edged, improbably, between a spectacular Adriatic coastline laced with almost 1,200 alluring islands and half a dozen Eastern European states, Croatia has made stunning progress as a conference and incentive destination over the last two decades. Who would have predicted that since the summer of 1991, when international tourists fled a region standing on the verge of war, the country would emerge as an exciting and highly professional international events destination? Earlier this year, several of the country’s leading destinations, including the northerly capital Zagreb and southernmost Dubrovnik, welcomed the World Handball Championships, while this summer’s schedule in Zagreb includes the World Congress of Vine and Wine and the International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine in September. And until Croatia, now a ‘candidate country’, gains EU membership, it is outside the Eurozone. Its own currency, the kuna, currently offers good exchange-rate value for money. Capital of the independent state since 1991, Zagreb is a classic central European city illustrating well over 1,000 years of history – although most of its landmark buildings are grand peach-coloured monuments to the self-importance of the AustroHungarian empire. Inevitably, Zagreb is Croatia’s political, economic, commercial, cultural, sporting and diplomatic centre with a good selection of conference hotels, including the Westin, Sheraton, Regent Esplanade, the International, the Four Points by Sheraton Panorama Hotel and the Hotel Dubrovnik. Two smaller properties - the Atunovic Hotel Zagreb and the Aristos - have added business centres to their amenities. The city hosts a burgeoning calendar of meetings and business events for up to 1,000, but it’s also home to the WHO to contact CROATIAN CONVENTION AND INCENTIVE BUREAU CROATIAN NATIONAL TOURIST BOARD Tel: 00 385 1 4699 307 Fax: 00 385 1 4557 827 Email: [email protected] www.croatia.hr Concert and Congress Hall Vatroslav Lisinski (largest hall seating 1,851) and the Hypo Expo XXI Conference Centre, which opened a couple of years ago and can accommodate up to 1,500. The Zagreb Fair Congress Centre offers ten meeting rooms and halls and the largest two combined offer 1,200 seats. Zagreb Fair delivers a packed calendar of shows and exhibitions across 90,000sqm of space in 40 pavilions. Recent business visitors have included Glaxosmithkline, UEFA and T-Mobile. Zagreb’s schedule also features plenty of artistic events including the World Festival of Animated Film, the International Folklore Festival and the International Festival of Puppet Theatres. Plans are afoot for the development of a significantly larger multi-purpose congress centre – a project encouraged by the launch earlier this year of the Zagreb Arena. The Arena’s first major event was the World Handball Championships Continued on page 53 J u l y /A u g u s t 2 0 0 9 CROATIA.indd 1 PHHWLQJV LQFHQWLYHWUDYHO 51 17/06/2009 15:03 CROATIA ATENS ASK the expert Continued from page 53 contemporary styling. It offers five restaurants, four bars, a nightclub, indoor and outdoor pools, tennis plus a spa and wellness centre. The property hosted last year’s Croatia Summit, while its corporate guest-list includes BMW and L’Oreal. More recently it was home to a five-day pharmaceutical event for 130 delegates, mainly from Russia, organised by Zagreb-based Kompas Travel. According to Aleksandra Uhernik Durdek, manager of the company’s Meetings & Incentive Travel Department, such events could also include: Dubrovnik sightseeing; a treasure hunt round the old town; a half-day trip to the Konavle Valley with traditional lunch and a visit to the old port town of Cavtat; a voyage on the Karaka, replica of an historic trading vessel and cruises to the islands of Kolocep, Sipan and Lopud. A member of Adriatic Luxury Hotels, the Dubrovnik Palace has a local sister property in the Excelsior Hotel & Spa, which PETRA PODKUBOVSEK -MEDIC, OF DUBROVNIK TRAVEL DMC, RECOMMENDS: GALA DINNER FOR 100 The fortess Revelin in Dubrovnik. Price: from b100 (£85) pp TEAM-BUILDING FOR 10 The Old Town Challenge around historic landmarks and attractions. Abseiling, kayaking and wine-tastings can be included. Available in Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb and Hvar. Price: from b50 (£43) pp CONFERENCE VENUE FOR 500 The Westin Zagreb; La Croma Conference Hotel and Spa; The Dubrovnik Palace; Rixos Libertas; the Radisson Blu; the Croatia, Cavtat; Amphora, Hvar; Le Meridien Lav, Split. Price: from b50 (£43) DDR. The Dubrovnik Palace Hotel offers stunning views underwent renovation last year and today presents six state-of-the-art conference rooms for up to 650, three restaurants and a piano bar. Dubrovnik’s other five-star properties include the Hotel Bellevue, the Hilton Imperial and the Grand Villa Argentina. The comprehensively restyled Hotel Rixos Libertas also boasts blue-chip past clients including Sony Ericsson. Newcomers include the Radisson Blu Resort and Spa Dubrovnik Riviera, which opened this month offering 408 guest rooms and meeting capacity for up to 1,000 people; and the 401-room Valamar Lacroma Resort, set on the Babin Kuk peninsula near the old town. It boasts eight meeting rooms including a conference hall seating up to 1,000 delegates. The city’s leading gala dining Continued on page 56 J u l y /A u g u s t 2 0 0 9 CROATIA.indd 3 PHHWLQJV LQFHQWLYHWUDYHO 55 23/06/2009 14:51 CROATIA ATENS casestudy Continued from page 51 'Dubrovnik is the country's tourism gem' The gala dinner was held at the spectacularly-located Gils Restaurant Top adventures in Dubrovnik Croatia’s ‘undiscovered’ exoticism, easy trans-European access, reputation for meetings professionalism and strong value for money all proved key factors in a UK insurance broker’s decision to undertake an incentive adventure in Dubrovnik. The Oval Group took 50 key players from its British offices and departments to the historic Adriatic city for three days of business, fun, recognition and to encourage cross-selling between the company’s specialist sectors. The event was handled by Leicestershire-based Emu Events, whose director Mike Utton recruited fine-detail support from Dubrovnik Travel DMC, one of Croatia’s leading destination management companies. "Dubrovnik Travel was able to find many of the elements we needed across its great contacts network they were invaluable,” said Utton. Emu Events specialises in providing as much organisational and technical support as clients require. The Oval Group incentive proved a good example of professional teamwork. The group stayed at the opulentlyappointed Grand Villa Argentina, set in lush terraced gardens leading down to a private beach, just a few minutes’ walk from Dubrovnik’s old town and UNESCO World Heritage Site. but it has also transformed the city’s cultural life with visits by the likes of The London Symphony Orchestra, Beyonce and Jose Carreras. In contrast to the metropolitan, genial, big-city culture and nightlife of Zagreb, Dubrovnik is relaxed and Mediterranean as well as being historic and charismatic. In addition to its well-regarded Summer Festival and those views of the Adriatic and the old town from the ubiquitous 25m city walls, Dubrovnik is the country’s tourism gem, having recovered rapidly from the damage inflicted on it in the early 1990s. Little wonder, then, that the city features prominently on Lonely Planet’s list of hot travel destinations. The Dubrovnik Palace Hotel is set about 10 minutes from the old city on a peninsula between pine woods and the open sea with views of rugged coastline and the Elaphiti Islands. The 308-room property can host events for up to 1,000, yet it retains a sense of intimate elegance with classic Mediterranean twists to its Continued on page 55 The programme included an al fresco dinner in a square beside the old town’s Pucic Palace; a speed-boat trip to Lokrum Island and then Supetar Island, hired exclusively for a barbecue and team-building activities; pre-dinner drinks on the massive old town walls followed by a gala dinner at Gils Restaurant, built into those walls. The schedule also embraced carefully-devised business sessions and generous leisure-time. “Our experience proved to be very slick and well-organised,” said Kevin Williams, regional director for The Oval Group. “It certainly raised expectations for future events.” Other elements of the Dubrovnik Travel incentive portfolio include: the three-hotel Importanne Resort, set on the Lapad Peninsula and featuring the luxuriously-renovated five-star Ariston Hotel; the Radisson Blu; tours of the old town’s many charismatic sights and buildings; sampling local delicacies and concerts in historic buildings; photo treasure hunts offering interactive exploration of Dubrovnik’s culture and legends; jeep expeditions into the Konavle region, a fertile valley packed with olive groves and wineries; dinner at the Restaurant Nautica, which used to be the Dubrovnik Nautical Academy and is protected by the fortresses of Bokar and Lovrijenac overlooking the Adriatic. J u l y /A u g u s t 2 0 0 9 Kempinski.indd 1 CROATIA.indd 2 PHHWLQJV LQFHQWLYHWUDYHO 53 09/06/2009 13:10 17/06/2009 15:06 CROATIA ATENS Continued from page 55 options include Nautica and Gils plus the Franciscan Monastery. The largest city on the Adriatic coast, Split offers rich evidence of some 400 years of Venetian influences, although the town centre lies within the walls of the huge fourth century palace founded by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. This bustling, colourful place features such business travel locations as the multi-awardwinning, five-star, 381-room Le Meridien Lav, where clients have included Speedo and the American Chamber of Commerce. The former Hotel Marjan, on the Split waterfront close to the city’s historic centre, will re-open in three stages over the next year as the 314-room Hilton Marjan Split – joining the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik as the second Hiltonbranded property in Croatia. Split will have a new Radisson Blu Resort by the autumn, complete with meeting facilities for 450 people. And the new five-star marble and glass Untitled-6 1 56 PHHWLQJV LQFHQWLYHWUDYHO CROATIA.indd 4 Stradun, the main street in Dubrovnik's old town Atrium Hotel has been built atop the ancient Diocletian Aqueduct, part of which can be seen in a gallery next to the main entrance. The island of Hvar, off the coast from Split, features three major Suncani hotel group properties including The Riva (member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World) and The Adriana (member of Leading Hotels of the World). The island, with the popular Pakleni Islands nearby, epitomises Croatia’s heady combination of stunningly varied landscapes and cultural influences. After four years of restoration, the Lesic Dimitri Palace has opened as a five-star boutique retreat, located in Korcula Old Town on the island of Korcula, between Dubrovnik and Hvar. It occupies an 18th century bishop’s palace and five medieval cottages with assorted designs paying homage to the Silk Road travels of Korcula’s most famous resident: the 13th century explorer Marco Polo. Croatia is home to seven treasures protected by UNESCO. Dubrovnik’s old town and Diocletian’s palace in Split feature alongside the ancient Basilica of Euphrasius in Porec; the Cathedral of Saint Jakov in Sibenik; the Romanesque-Gothic town of Trogir; the Plitvice Lakes; and the Stari Grad Plain on the island of Hvar. 10/06/2009 11:42 J u l y /A u g u s t 2 0 0 9 17/06/2009 15:08