Poreč, 10 June  2015 - Leading Croatian tourism company Valamar Riviera opened its latest four star family resort yesterday, on the Adriatic island of Sveti Nikola overlooking the Poreč old town. The gala opening of this year's biggest investment project in Croatia's tourism was attended by Prime Minister Zoran Milanović, Tourism Minister Darko Lorencin and numerous other dignitaries.

Valamar Isabella Island Resort can accommodate almost 800 guests in its four-star hotel rooms, luxury suites, suites and villas. Valamar Riviera invested over 30 million euro in turning the northernmost Adriatic island know for its Mediterranean gardens and situated just a five-minute boat ride from the Poreč promenade, into a unique family holiday destination boasting six beaches, infinity pools, wellness center, fine dining restaurants, renovated old summer castle and the oldest lighthouse on the eastern coast of Adriatic. 

Minister for Tourism Darko Lorenzin announced that Croatian tourism will this year receive half a billion euro of investments, with the Adriatic region alone adding some 25 new or completely renovated hotels, the most in over 10 years. “One of the biggest investments is a luxury family hotel Isabella Island Resort which Valamar Riviera built on the island of Sveti Nikola to further enhance what the city of Poreč and the entire Istria have to offer. The key to strengthening Croatia’s position as attractive global destination discovered each year by increasing numbers of visitors is investing well in ever better quality of service. This is why I would like to thank all investors, Croatian and international alike, for recognizing the potential of Croatian tourism”, Minister Lorenzin said.

The new CEO Željko Kukurin thanked the Government for its support through development bank HBOR credit lines and tax breaks for strategic investments, saying that Valamar Isabella Island Resort represents a true success story of the public and private sector working together towards the same goal. "We estimate the value of credit lines and tax brakes to be 12 million euro, and expect almost 35 million euro will be returned over the next 10 years to the government in various forms of tax revenues from this project. We expect the total revenues of the Valamar Isabella of up to 105 million euro over the next 10 years, generated by some 1.2 million overnight stays in the same period", Kukurin explained. 

"We have been working very hard for many years imagining and developing a project that would balance the demands of the market, the wish lists of our guests and partners with the urban planning framework, need to preserve the natural beauty and history of the island", said the outgoing CEO of  Valamar Riviera and the new Supervisory Board Vice-Chairman Franz Lanschutzer. "We have invested almost 320 million euro in Croatian tourism over the past 12 years making us one of the biggest investors on Adriatic Coast", added Lanschutzer.

The island of Sveti Nikola, where Valamar Isabella Island Resort is situated, had for century been the home of a Benedictine monastery and church, with the 15^th century lighthouse built on order from the Senate of Venice. Since 18^th century, the island is the property of the family of Istrian nobility, the Polesinis, who built a castle there and used it as a summer retreat. The 19^th century castle Isabella was named after baroness Isabella Polesini, who has now also lent her name to the new resort.

Valamar Riviera d.d. Poreč was established in February 2015, as a result of a consolidation process of the Valamar Group. It owns and operates 41 tourism facilities on the Croatian Adriatic. It has 22 hotels, 7 apartment villages, 2 hostels and 10 camping sites in its portfolio, spanning from Istria and the island of Krk to Dubrovnik. It can accommodate 43 thousand guests in a single day, employing some 3 thousand employees in high season. Valamar Riviera makes up some 10% of the total categorized tourism accommodation units in Croatia.