Apart from numerous state and public officials, Zagreb hotel operators will most likely bear the greatest burden of work in the preparations for the Croatian presidency over the European Council in 2020. As we have learned, they are having ever more intensive meetings these days with the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MVEP).
For the hotel managers in Zagreb it will be a great opportunity, but also a big responsibility. According to unofficial estimates, they will have to accommodate some 20,000 international and domestic visitors — mostly EU officials and protected persons who will take part in a total of several hundred events in the nation's capital in a six-month period in 2020.
The first informal meetings between the hotel operators and the Ministry started sometime before the beginning of summer; more intensive get-togethers are expected to start next week, when the hoteliers should learn more about the tasks ahead.
The biggest problem in organizing the accommodation of the numerous EU officials could be the thin hotel capacity in the city, particularly in the 4 and 5-star class. Zagreb has 23 such facilities at the moment.
In contrast, Sofia had 42 higher-class hotels at the EU bureaucrats' disposal at the time of the Bulgarian presidency in the first half of 2018. Bucharest, where most bureaucrats and European ministers will be staying during the Romanian presidency in the first half of 2019, will be able to offer four times more high-class hotels than Zagreb — no fewer than 98.
By the time of the Croatian presidency, Hilton Garden Inn is expected to open in Radnička Street, together with at least one more top hotel, but the numbers still tell the story of a chronic lack of better hotel accommodation in the Croatian capital.
500 more hotel rooms
As director of the Horwath HTL consulting company Siniša Topalović explained to Jutarnji, more than 500 additional hotel rooms are planned to be available by 2020, while part of the leisure demand and business travelers should spill over to high quality private accommodation facilities. He stresses the advantages, but also warns of the pitfalls that come with high utilization of capacity.
"The Croatian presidency will allow for a stronger price growth", says Topalović. "However, the hotels will have to raise the prices responsibly, [to avoid] an unreasonable jump above the Central European average, which would negate the work of the Tourist Board on the development of the City Break product. We should capitalize on the growing demand, but the price growth should be reasonable and in the context of the major cities of Central Europe."
In any case, for Zagreb hotels, the Croatian presidency over the EU Council will mean the virtually sold-out capacity for six months of 2020. Stronger occupancy is expected to start as early as the end of 2019, when the increasing numbers of European consultants will be arriving to Croatia. They are also expected to remain in the country for some time after the presidency is over.
"We do not expect only higher-class hotels to be well-booked", says one of the Zagreb hotel operators. "Also full will be those with three or fewer stars. All the other visitors who come to Zagreb for purposes unconnected with the EU will be coming [as usual]. We hoteliers are ready for the great opportunity. We will keep our capacities aside for the needs of the EU, meaning that we will not take on any other major obligations, events, etc."
Special training
By the second half of 2020, most 4-star and 5-star hotels will have to give their staff special training, given that they will need to be able to take care of protected persons who require special kinds of care and accommodation. Also, they will have to be prepared for a great deal of flexibility with cancellations. A great deal of the presidency-related activities is organized at the last moment. They will be informed of such things within the framework of numerous meetings with the staff of the Foreign Ministry.
According to the information concerning the Croatian presidency of the Council available so far, some 20 high-level meetings (including one summit of heads of state and government and about a dozen informal Council sessions at the ministerial level) and about 250 meetings of the working bodies of the Council are envisaged to take place between the beginning of July and the end of December 2020. Some events should certainly be held in Rijeka, which will be the European Capital of Culture in the same year.
As the president of the Hotel Association of the Chamber of Commerce (HGK) Josipa Jutt Ferlan explained to Jutarnji list, the hotel operators see the upcoming EU presidency as a great opportunity for further recognition of Zagreb as a travel destination, but also as an opportunity to raise the average price of accommodation, which lags behind those in the rest of Europe.
"We are here to hear about the obligations and needs that arise from the organization of that event", she said. "We consider the possible lack of capacity to be a challenge that we would like to overcome."
The whole thing will cost EUR 50 million, ministers will attend a mini-school, and some 200 conferences will take place
Croatian government ministers are looking at a three-month mini-school for the Croatian EU presidency. A 7,200-square meter space has been set aside and is being prepared for the arrival of leaders of the EU countries at the National University Library. The work managed by the new Chairman of the Croatian Academy of Sciences, prominent architect Velimir Neidhardt, who designed the original building. Some 800 people in the state administration are intensively preparing for the greatest challenge so far for the Croatian foreign policy apparatus.
This is the gist of the story on the preparations for the presidency, which begins on January 1, 2020 — and which might coincide with the presidential elections. The ministers will have to undergo intensive training, and will be taught by the best experts on the functioning of the EU. Some of the individual courses may well take place in Paris. It is all part of preparation for the hosting of almost 200 conferences expected to be held during the 6-month Croatian presidency.
"This ambitious project will cost about EUR 50 million", says State Secretary at the MVEP Andreja Metelko-Zgombić. "It is less than some other countries have spent. The presidency cost Austria about 90 million. We will be rational and cost-effective, but everything needs to be done in order for the presidency to go well, and for us to present [Croatia] as a country able to handle such demanding projects without a problem."
Claims can be heard that the preparations are late, that the fate of the Croatian building in Brussels is up in the air (only one company has tendered for the job of reconstruction), that the successor to Ambassador Mate Škrabalo in Brussels, who will handle a major amount of work, is still unknown, etc. The Foreign Ministry nevertheless claims that everything is going according to plan. The Brussels team will be significantly enhanced. About 90 people work there now, but the figure will rise to around 230 by the time of the presidency.
"We anticipate retaining slightly more than 300 people altogether for the term of the presidency", says Ambassador Gordan Markotić, who is in charge of the technical preparations. "Everyone in the state administration who will work on the project will acquire much needed additional knowledge, which will be very useful to us later on."
The biggest challenge will certainly be the organization of the summit meeting in Zagreb. All the most important European politicians will attend. The security aspect of the organization of such a meeting requires extensive preparations. Some of the meetings within the presidency activities will take place in other Croatian cities. Those dealing with culture will be held in Rijeka, which will be the European Capital of Culture in 2020.
"Croatia's priorities are well known", says Metelko-Zgombić. "They are the economic growth focusing on youth employment, energy and transport connectivity, security and EU enlargement. However, the precise details will be, as usual, adopted just before the start of the presidency."