Amadria Park combines our love for the Adriatic sea and harmony with nature
Q: The last time we talked to you was in November 2016. In the year since, a new brand Amadria Park was introduced. The Ugo Group hosts many hotels under this new, single brand name. Which hotels exactly? And why?
Brand Amadria Park offers the best of our brands Milenij hoteli and Solaris. It includes 4 and 5 star hotels and additional contents that enrich hotel offer. In Opatija, there are five hotels under the new brand – Hotel Milenij, Hotel Sveti Jakov, Hotel Royal, Hotel Camellia and Hotel Agava, and our well-known Gastro World with six different gastronomic points and Royal Beach Club. In Šibenik, we currently have three hotels under the Amadria Park brand – Hotel Jure, Hotel Ivan and Hotel Andrija, accompanied by Dalmatian Etno Village with traditional Dalmatian food and products, En Vogue Beach Club, as well as Galija and Aquapark Dalmacija aimed primarily at our younger visitors. In the segment of congress tourism, we have the Convention Centre Šibenik and Conference park 25/7 in Opatija.
Our plan is to upscale the quality of other hotels and contents and include them in the new brand over the next several years.
Q: What does the name of Amadria Park stand for?
Amadria Park combines our love for the Adriatic sea and harmony with nature, which is visible in the leaf as part of the new logo. For our guests it means a personal approach, choice of a number of high quality options and high level of service. Our goal is to provide a warm, family atmosphere to all our guests.
Q: How has the Amadria rebranding changed the hotels, their vision, and their recognition? What is the new brand’s impact? What are your observations in regards to a new brand’s life?
When speaking about observations, first it is necessary to emphasize that we have a very long tradition in hospitality services – since 1904, and we wanted to keep this tradition in the new brand. So, even though it brings many novelties, it also keeps the best of our past. It brings together knowledge and continuous improvement in quality.
This is why the Amadria Park was firstly extremely well accepted by our employees, who are the key in creating the feeling we want to provide to our guests. Guests’ feedback is extremely positive, and the new brand will additionally develop in the coming years.
Q: How does the new brand impact the congress tourism? How much does the plan of prolonging seasons have to do with it?
With regard to congress tourism, in 2017 we opened Convention Centre Šibenik, the largest and most modern convention center in Croatia, and in Opatija we presented a completely new concept of conference offer under the name Conference Park 25/7.
We made a significant step in upgrading the offer in this segment. Our Convention Centre Šibenik is the only facility in Croatia built specially for congresses, exhibitions, banquets and other types of events.
Conference Park 25/7 in Opatija brings a creative concept with nine multifunctional halls, which provide an environment which encourages creativity and development of new business models.
Certainly, our plan is to prolong the season. However, that will also depend on support by the destination, e.g. by introducing more direct flights and making Šibenik and Opatija more available to event organizers from abroad.
Q: How have the residents of towns, where the hotels are located, accepted the rebranding? What about Croatia in general?
Croatia is seeing strong development of tourism, which is to continue in the next year, both by foreign and domestic investments. Upgrade of tourist offer brings benefits not only to companies in the tourism sector, but to local communities and economy in general. Local communities in which we operate recognized Amadria Park as a new opportunity for development and cooperation.
Q: How is the Amadria Park Brand impacting the local economy?
With its offer and quality of service, Amadria Park positively impacts on attracting the new segment of guests to Croatia, and further development of Opatija and Šibenik as attractive tourist destinations. Likewise, our cooperation with local arts, crafts, food producer and institutions running historic monuments and other contents, gives impetus for enriching the tourist offer and generating more revenue.
Q: How are you promoting the new Amadria Park Brand?
We are combining traditional channels, like fairs, catalogues, and advertising with social media and other online channels. We are continuously exploring new ways of communication and adapting the opportunities offered by new technologies. This way we can communicate with a wide range of audiences and present various choices our brand offers.
Q: What is the future plan for the brand?
In the coming years we will gradually upscale all our facilities which are still not part of the new brand, and increase the level of service. Next year, Amadria Park will be richer for Hotel Jakov in Šibenik, which will be completely refurbished. We are also planning to open a heritage hotel in the center of Zagreb.
Q: How would you describe the path of the rebranding? Is there anything you would suggest to those who might have been considering the rebranding themselves?
There usually comes a point in business when it is necessary to reposition or reinvent the brand to adapt to new market developments or to set a new direction. For us it was a logical step after years of investing in new capacities, implementing new contents and increasing the level of service. We planned it very carefully because we wanted to keep the features that distinguish us, but we also wanted to emphasize forward thinking. The most important is to get support and acceptance of the new brand by those who will communicate it – your people. When they are “on board”, everything else is easier.
Q: What do you personally wish for the brand?
My wish is that we always remain dedicated to our brand values, because by living them every day, the brand can develop and become stronger. I am confident that Amadria Park will very soon be recognized as one of the best in Croatia.
