Business perfomance, investments and competitiveness of Istrian hotel industry

Istria is often mentioned as one of the most developed tourist regions of Croatia. In order to recognize its significance in the Croatian and international tourism markets this research compares performance of Istrian hoteliers with those of domestic and foreign competitors. The other purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of domestic and foreign direct investments on the financial results of Istrian hoteliers. Analyse of Istrian hotel companies business performance has been made regarding the origin of invested capital. General findings show that among the best performing hoteliers there are equally domestic and foreign owned companies, as well as among the loss making ones. Contrary to initial expectations this research did not confirm thesis that Istria is highly successful and competitive tourist region. Reasons for that are many, such as seasonality, lack of high class hotels and quality greenfield investments.