The ceremonial opening of the summer season last week, organized by the company, was attended by about 55 journalists from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia. In these four states of the former Yugoslavia, MK Group, owned by the businessman Miodrag Kostić, has developed a business in hotel facilities. Avram said he wanted to become the majority owner of the Budva Riviera where they plan an investment that would put Budva on a different tourism map compared to what it is today, and the Budva Riviera would be at 4 plus or five stars.
"Our plans for Budva Riviera are definitely not minor. We have not spoken with the Montenegrin Government yet. We expect that a tender will be announced shortly, where everything will be transparent and where everyone who is interested will be able to participate. About the actual prices for Budva Riviera I could not discuss for now, "Avram explained.
The majority owner of Budva Riviera is now the State of Montenegro (Government, PIO Fund and the Employment Bureau have about 58% of the shares). About 15.23 percent of the stake belongs to MK Group, and the same amount to the Strateks group by Nil Emilfarb. The estimated value of the complex of Sveti Stefan and Miločer will reduce the government's participation in the rest of Budva Riviera, which will be the Slovenska beach, Mogren, Aleksandar, Palas and Kristal, and thus increase the participation of now small shareholders who can become majority ones. Avram explained that he would develop two concepts within the Budva Riviera, one where they would maintain an individual brand that would lead people from Montenegro and the other part of the company would be developed with some of the world's leading hotel chains.
"We have plans for other investments in the region and for all types of tourism from the mountain to the sea. We are open to every good project. At this time, we are the only company operating in four countries in the former Yugoslavia. We want to expand to Albania and to round up this part of the Balkans. At Hotel Grand on Kopaonik we have 185 employees, at Kempinski Hotel in Portoroz in Slovenia we have increased the number of employees by 20 percent, and in Croatia by 10 percent," said Avram. After the first investment 10 years ago in the modernization of the largest hotel complex in Kopaonik, the MK Group has further invested in the domain of city hotels and hotels on the Adriatic coast. Currently, it directly manages the Grand hotels on Kopaonik, the hotel Kempinski Palace in Portoroz, the Kempinski Adriatic in Istria, and at the end of May, the Sheraton hotel in Novi Sad. These hotels have four or five stars. The MK Group in the majority or minority ownership has 11 hotels with more than 2,500 beds. Future investments are targeted at city hotels with larger capacity with more than 100 or 200 rooms as well as hotels on the sea and in the mountains in the region. The company explained that concrete moves depend on hotel market offers at the given moment and have the capacity to take over from one to two hotels per year.
Kempinski contributed to the development of Istria
Sales and Marketing Director of Hotel Kempinski Adriatic in Croatia and Kempinski Palace in Slovenia, Tomislav Hrala, said that Kempinski's arrival significantly contributed to the development of the region and the rural area in Slovenia and Istria.
"MK Group purchased a hotel in Slovenia two years ago and at the end of last year in Croatia. With the brand Kempinski Istra, it is placed on the map of world luxury hotels. Guests are more individual, but we also work with tour operators. There are differences in the structure of guests in the Slovenian and Croatian hotels. The Croatian hotel is of seasonal character and a family hotel, while in Portorož, congress tourism is more developed. The hotel in Croatia is one of the few in the region with an 18-hole golf course," Hrala explained. According to him, they cooperate with the local community from which they buy local products and most of the employees are locals.
"In Croatia we have 165 rooms and 21 apartments. The key clientele is from Austria, followed by Germany and the regional market. The number of guests from Serbia has increased since the hotel was taken over by MK group," said Hrala.
Text by Marija Mirjacic, on June 18th 2018, read more at Vijesti
