Altogardesana Hotel Group Expands to Croatia with Major Investment
The major Altogardesana hotel entrepreneurship, the historic one that started from nothing and built authentic empires, is now expanding into emerging markets in the international tourism sector. This is the case of the spa whose shareholders, at 50 percent each, are, on one side, the Limonese tourism operator Filippo Horstmann and, on the other, the brothers Bruno and Ivo Gentilini from Riva del Garda. The company has just completed the purchase of a tourist complex in Croatia, which includes three hotels (with a total of approximately 1,200 bed spaces) and a large campground. All of this is located on the Rabac coast, in the municipality of Albona, roughly halfway between Rijeka and Pula.
Details of the Croatian investment
The Gardesana company, according to well-informed sources, would have invested close to 20 billion lire to acquire the tourist complex from the Istrian parastatal company that previously managed it. An additional few billion lire would also be necessary for some essential renovations. In short, a mega-investment that diversifies the already numerous interests of both Gentilini and Horstmann, who already own three important hotels on Lake Garda (Le Balze in Tremosine, Il Sole in Riva, Lido Verde in Torbole) and have been managing other hospitality and service structures for years on their own.
The renovation work of the hotels and the campground on the stunning Croatian coast—already a hub for international tourism, recovering after ten years of suffering due to the Balkan war—will begin shortly and be completed for the upcoming season. From the Garda perspective, this is not seen as competition, but as an added value, because Lake Garda— as Filippo Horstmann confirmed— will be sold by some agencies in packages combined with the Adriatic Sea in the former Yugoslavia, creating a new but appealing synergy for tourists from northern countries.
The protagonists and their entrepreneurial spirit
“The idea to invest in Croatia,” says Filippo Horstmann, “was suggested to us by some of our Slavic employees, who showed us the place and made the initial contacts. I believe the area could be interesting for other Italian tourism operators as well, but I sincerely advise anyone considering investments there to be very cautious. Our negotiations were quite complex, and we risked making some mistakes. In the end, everything went in the right direction, and we are satisfied.”
Caution and professionalism, in short. The East is not the empire of easy gains. A piece of advice that, coming from Filippo Horstmann, carries double weight. His career as a tourism operator began in the 1950s, when on Lake Garda, with a characteristic hand-pulled cart, he started selling citrus fruits to passing tourists. Exactly like Germano Chincherini, another Limonese “empire builder” who tragically passed away some time ago.
Similarly, the successful entrepreneurs who recognized the great potential of tourism are the Gentilini brothers. Together with their father, many years ago, they started from a modest grocery shop. Now, their entrepreneurship has expanded to the former Communist countries.
