The release last week of Virtuoso’s 2024 Luxe List couldn’t have been more perfectly timed for one particular overseas-based luxury destination management company (DMC). Amongst Virtuoso’s extensive findings, the global travel network’s luxury experts pinpointed Croatia as “the new European favourite for those looking to avoid crowds in Italy and Greece.”
Enter Via Croatia. A concierge-type, full-service luxury DMC headquartered just outside Zagreb, which is preparing to enter the Australian market.
Via Croatia is a specialist in bespoke high-end travel through not just Croatia, but into Greece, Albania, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Headed by its President, Zvonimir Androic, the family-owned business has over 20 years of experience in the European market, tapping into the US market several years ago.
Working exclusively with travel advisors and luxury tour operators, Via Croatia through its local partner involvement, offers access to “unequalled travel experiences,” Zvonimir explains to LATTE, several weeks before the Virtuoso Luxe List was dispatched.
Products include in-house yacht charters and hand-picked local hotels in Croatia and Adriatic.
“Via Croatia provides beyond basic travel amenities, including partner marketing assistance and access to sites and experiences typically closed to the public. We provide our partners with access to unparalleled luxury itineraries on both land and sea,” he explains.
Via Croatia offers tailor-made trips and 200-plus experiences that advisors can customise to suit their FIT travellers or their groups. The company also packages yacht charters, viewed as a high-growth market in Croatia by Zvonimir. The yachts range in size from 2 to 15 cabins and are ideally suited to single families, as well as multi-generational or extended family groups and friends.
For luxury travel agencies and tour operators, yachts with 11 or more cabins are also a perfect product for group departures and one-off itineraries.
Via Croatia offers in-house trained guides, standardised travel services and special hotel amenities.
“All our guests enjoy beyond-ordinary amenities and local support from our on-site concierge team. We are all about quality over quantity,” Zvonimir said.
“Our biggest strength lies in our standardised service which we apply to any new country we enter so our partners can be sure that throughout all the countries we guarantee the same level of service. Also, every client booking with us will get a 24/7 concierge service that will make sure all elements run smoothly along the way.”
Having launched in the United States a decade ago, and with the pandemic now in the past, Via Croatia wants to tap into the burgeoning Australian market, as tourists look beyond the traditional European tourist gateways of Italy, France, Greece and the UK.
“The Australian market is very interesting to Via Croatia due to the similarity and the way of travel that it has with the USA. Being active in the USA for over 10 years now transferring the products over to Australia seemed common sense steps into the future.”
“We believe that yacht charters and multi-country itineraries will be the biggest pull for the Australian market due to longer on-average stays in Europe,” Zvonimir added.
He flagged the potential of “adventurous souls” wanting to venture off the beaten path in locations such as Albania and Montenegro, while others keen to explore a destination’s highlights will visit Croatia and Slovenia – Via Croatia’s top-selling destinations.
The advantage of booking with Via Croatia is the business has direct contracts with hotels and resorts, and it operates its own boats.
“Booking with us, the advisor is skipping local operators who use local DMCs and going directly to the source. All experiences that we book are outsourced locally and direct, same goes for hotels and charters.”
Via Croatia has its own in-house marketing team that helps travel advisors with sales through the use of custom brochures, social media posts, unbranded videos, as well as the company’s white-label Flex Pages which give sellers the opportunity to use all Via Croatia’s web pages with the agents’ contact information.
The company has a 48-hour turnaround on quote proposals.
Next year, Australian travel partners will also have the opportunity to earn their place on Via Croatia’s 4-day ‘Fam Festival’, an educational program that opens up further sales tools and skills to frontline sellers.
And in early 2024, Via Croatia will be travelling down under for the first time on a mission to meet first-hand with the Australian trade and to build ties. Stay tuned to LATTE for more details.
Until then, Australian travel advisors booking a trip through Via Croatia valued at US$10,000 or more will be rewarded with a bonus cash incentive of US$500, on top of their competitive commission. The offer is valid for bookings made through until 31 December 2023.
Via Croatia is a strategic partner of the Croatian National Tourist board for the development of luxury tourism in Croatia. Earlier this year, the company aligned with European luxury travel alliance, Serandipians, as preferred country DMC partner, and the firm is a member of the US Tour Operators Association (USTOA).
See via-croatia.com for more information. For enquiries in Australia and New Zealand, Via Croatia is represented by Plateau International. Contact Karen Conlon, Sales Director ANZ on email – karen@plateauinternational.com.
