January 16, 2018
The STA reports January 16, 2018, that the tourism company Unitur last year recorded a 5.6% growth in revenue and 200,000 overnight stays, which is 1.5% more than in 2016, for one of the record years in its history in this respect, executive director Barbara Soršak told the press on Tuesday, while noting that the company would continue to make losses.
The Zreče-based company operating the Terme Zreče spa and the Rogla and Krvavec ski resorts has been independent since last November after splitting from the tool making group Unior.
Unitur, which has around 320 full-time employees and which hires around 160 additional staff during the winter season, had been making losses for Unior in the past few years.
According to Soršak, it is still impossible to make estimates for this year, but the results significantly improved last year. She added however that Unitur would probably operate for years without breaking even.
"We have been implementing intensive measures to improve the operations for years, and the results are improving. But this is a long-term process, which has not allowed us to operate in the black just yet," she said.
The company generated EUR 19.5m in revenues last year, which was one of the record years in terms of tourism revenues, Soršak added.
The plan for 2018 envisages a 3% growth in sales, a slightly lower growth in overnight stays and around EUR 3m in investments. The overhaul of the snowmaking system started last year, and EUR 2.7m is planned to be invested in it by 2020.
The management sees the Benelux countries, the Netherlands in particular, as potential markets, primarily in the summer months. The company currently generates almost 60% of overnight stays in the winter season.
Around 125,000 overnight stays last year were generated by Slovenian guests. In the winter, the most foreign guests come from Croatia, Serbia and Hungary, and in the summer from the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria.
This winter has been successful so far, with the company recording 45 skiing days already, which is two more than in the same period of the previous winter season. The number of skiers was up by 44% to 65,000.
