Guests are looking for a moderately decorated space in which they will feel comfortable, perhaps even more comfortable than in their own home. From a demographic perspective; Generation x, which is the largest generator of mass tourism and apartmentization, is getting older. For them, the main motive for coming was the sun and the sea. Today, the Millennium generation is coming to power. They have time, they have money for travel, and they bring big changes to the tourism market. For them, classic hotel complexes and concrete apartment complexes are uninteresting. They want an experience! On the journey, they seek authenticity, local experience and harmony with nature.
The market is slowly starting to adapt to this trend so we can see more and more innovative accommodation facilities like glamping, tree houses, eco-ethno villages, etc. that successfully combine respect for the environment and local identity. The fact is that we are at the transition from the period of mass apartmentization to the period of environmental protection. Preserved nature becomes a luxury and everyone who is aware of it earns more. Ecology is becoming a brand. All tourism experts have been emphasizing one and the same thing lately – we need to be authentic! And authenticity should be built on our local identity, on local stories. What does this mean in practice?
With the entry of world brands of furniture and equipment for households and our market, known for the accessibility of their products to the masses, there was a sea of one and the same “apartments”. Good design today is no longer a matter of luxury but of your creativity.
Design is also important when branding accommodation – every detail is important here because the details make up the style, the style that sells your accommodation and which you can stand out from a bunch of similar apartments. When it comes to eco-friendly apartments, great emphasis is placed on the need for the interior to “breathe local identity”. Furniture can be authentically restored and based on the philosophy of reduce-recycle-reuse. There is no plastic. Materials and products are natural and indigenous. Styles with which you can equip or “lift” your ambience are retro, ethno, vintage, rustic, industrial and shabbychic. Connect horizontally – look for an offer from local producers, decorate the apartment with unique paintings by local artists, put handmade eco soaps from a local manufacturer, give guests homemade jam from a local family farm and leave business cards and a canvas eco bags for shopping. If IKEA works successfully according to the system “you can buy everything you see in our store”, why not promote the local community in such a way? Pay attention to the little things. Let the guest feel the authenticity of the identity of a location upon entering your apartment. Be totally different from others!
With the Dalmatia Green program for eco-friendly accommodation, we connect and promote renters who have creatively implemented local identity in their design and become ambassadors of the local community. Examples of success that really breathe sustainability and from which you can learn are: Salvezani Apartments, Tvrdić Honey Apartmens.
As part of the Dalmatia Green program in partnership with eco interior designers from the company Održivo d.o.o. we educate landlords on how to authentically design the interior or restore an existing one to “get a soul” again.
