Photo: Nedo Pinezić – private collection
The guest of the Managers’ Club is Nedo Pinezić, entrepreneur and consultant for the development of tourism based on the local community, Krk.
As part of the Managers’ Club project, we present leading people from the world of entrepreneurship as well as experts from various fields who make our everyday life better and more interesting. In the country and the region, which is at the bottom of European and world rankings, when it comes to the economy and business conditions, the exchange of positive stories and experiences is extremely necessary and important for all of us. We are sure you will be surprised how many successful people live around us. Some of these people you know, some you’ve never heard of. Maybe someone’s story or response prompts you to try to do something similar or more.
As nice as it is to be part of the manager.ba portal and discover many successful people, on the other hand, it is difficult to see so many people leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina. We want just that, to change the consciousness of living in a time when we can achieve so much while living at home.
Our interviewee today, after so many years of successfully setting top standards on the Croatian islands and Croatia in general, has been doing so in Herzegovina in recent years, through numerous lectures and trainings on creating a destination in Herzegovina that can be like Tuscany and Provence.
We are confident that you will enjoy this interview.
Meet Mr. Pinezić
I am a consultant for the development of community-based tourism. I came to this status through lifelong learning in practice. I went through many jobs in tourism, from warehouse worker, suitcase carrier, receptionist, animator, tourist guide, assistant waiter, to independent commercialist of initiative and reception jobs in a travel agency, animation manager, to co-owner and director of a tourism company, small business owner travel agencies and finally as a consultant and trainer in international projects for the development of rural, sustainable tourism.
You are the head of the Quanarius d.o.o. Krk and household accommodation provider in Malinska. How did your career path go before starting your own company?
I have already listed some of the jobs in tourism that I did. I have been surrounded by tourism since I was a child, my family has a hundred-year tradition of providing catering services in the household.
I have always been socially active as well. In the tourist board system, I participated in the work of the municipal tourist board, I was the president of the Krk Tourist Board, a member of the Tourist Board of the Croatian Tourist Board, a member of the Supervisory Board of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and a member of the Tourist Board of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. In addition, I was a member of the Economic Council of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce in Rijeka, the Business Council of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, I founded the Family Tourism Association of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce in 1997 and was its president until 2017.
I founded the first company back in 1989, as soon as the then new law on private companies came into force. I went through “the whole way” from a fast-growing company that started “from 0” to a breakup with a partner and bankruptcy and a new business “out of the red”. All these experiences are valuable to me today in the business I do.
I can freely say that my wife and I really started living and improving our lives on our own.
She is also an entrepreneur in healthcare and together we have provided the family with a decent life and the opportunity for our daughters to stay in Croatia.
Together with my father, sister and brother we provide accommodation services in a family house in Malinska where we continued the family tradition. This “micro business” “feeds” disabled family members and provides an opportunity for a better life for everyone.
Can you briefly present your work so far in the tourism of Croatian islands?
In 1989 I founded the first private company for tourism and trade on the island of Krk. Today there are more than 50 similar companies. I am proud of all those entrepreneurs who followed me. I also organized some excursion tours that are active even today, as well as the unique Tourist Board of the Island of Krk, of which I was the first president.
In 1995, given that this tourist board does not have its own source of income, with the help of experts from the Ministry of Tourism, I designed contractual co-financing of all local governments and all local tourist boards through 14 contracts. That model has remained in place today.
I was a member of the council of the Tourist Board of the Island of Krk for 15 years. We have achieved a lot together, we have gathered all businesspersons in the tourism of the Island of Krk, we have joined funds for promotion and joint projects for the development of the tourist offer.
Today, the Island of Krk participates in the total tourist traffic of the Republic of Croatia with around 6%. In 2019, 4.5 million tourist visits and half a billion euros in revenue were generated. I am proud of the cooperation achieved between seven municipalities and the city of Krk in preserving the name and offer of the Island as a unique destination, regardless of the strong names of individual tourist destinations.
The fact that www.krk.hr is on the German market according to Internet searches immediately after Istria, speaks volumes about the success achieved. The road to that was difficult and long.
Has the pandemic, which stopped the whole world, changed your way of doing business and if so, in what way?
Of course it is. Some projects have been stopped, some postponed, some extended. Numerous events, lectures have been canceled.
In the accommodation part we suffer losses of 50%, in study trips almost 100%.
Our goal is to survive with as few consequences as possible and at the same time design a new offer for 2022 and 2023.
You are a frequent guest and professional associate at tourist activities in Herzegovina. What is the stage of creating tourist destinations in Herzegovina and are there any projects that you would like to single out in your work so far?
Herzegovina has incredible potential to create a strong brand of the Adriatic hinterland. Something like Tuscany or Provence. Efforts in that direction are already yielding first results.
There are projects such as “Cycling rural”, “Ćiro’s bike path”, “Wine Road of Herzegovina”, “Tourist Cluster of Herzegovina”, but also an institutional approach to unifying the project at the level of Herzegovina through a unique development agency REDAH. There are many challenges and I am sure there will be more of them in the future. It is a long and difficult path, but I believe that all stakeholders will remain persistent in meeting the goal.
Are there any similar things in Croatian and BiH legislation that you would like to be different, and which would facilitate the work of your company as well?
In general, the approach to micro-entrepreneurship is inadequate. More understanding, incentives and facilitation would enable more significant self-employment, greater innovation in all sectors and ultimately better economic and social stability.
We know the situation in developed countries of the European Union, so we compare ourselves with them. We are still tormented by the “old mental structure” left behind from the former socio-political system when crafts persons were actually undesirable.
Larger economic entities are more likely to fight for better business conditions, while micro-entrepreneurs are “invisible” and “uninteresting” even though they represent the backbone of society. Without micro-entrepreneurs, even larger systems would not be able to function, “holes” in the “supply chain” would not be filled and many members of the local community would be left without the much-needed additional means of subsistence. This misunderstanding is a common problem in all neighboring countries.
Do you have any advice for young people who are deciding whether to stay in the country and leave? Would you advise them to start “a business of their own”?
A young person “has the right to make a mistake”, so whatever you decide is a stake in experience for young people. Yet today we have a fantastic opportunity to continue living among friends, the lifestyle we love while doing business with the whole world.
The transformation of the economy into a digital economy provides the possibility of “digital nomadism” for local young people who can work and visit their country as well as for cross-border travel and longer stays in the “blessure” style (business + pleasure). Young people who have left the country, made acquaintances, made deals, can also return to their country and continue to do business in the same virtual environment. A new tourist movement has been created, and it is predicted that by 2035, as many as a billion young people will travel and work “online”.
Of course, in traditional industries such as tourism and agriculture, it is possible to use digital technology to market products and sell services. To be “on your own” among friends, to be independent, to create your own free time and work intensity, to influence your own career development – the feeling of freedom is indescribable. “Life is not only about money” is a common saying in my area.
Quality of life on a daily basis based on social contacts in the community, enjoying the fresh air, the beauty of nature… if we tried to translate all this into a salary there would be no appropriate price.
What are you most proud of in your life so far?
I am most proud of my family, my wife Ksenija, daughters Karla and Pavla. “My women” are my biggest motive and biggest support in everything I do. They are also most deprived of my absence. I often pay more attention to others than to my own family. This job has no working hours, vacations.
Again, whenever possible, the reunion of the immediate and extended family gives that “itch of life” and it makes us happy.
Research shows that successful people read regularly. Do you read and do you have a favorite book to recommend?
I read a lot but mostly professional literature, magazines, articles, studies, work materials… I haven’t been paying attention to classical literature for a long time, unfortunately. Before the pandemic, my favorite author was Peter Fisk, one of the biggest names in the world of modern marketing.
As a futurist, innovator and strategist, by profession a nuclear physicist, he is one of the most influential people in the world of new business, the business of the future. I’m trying to get to his latest book, Business Recoded.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I would like to be as close as possible to the “world of Peter Fisk” and pass on his knowledge in our environment.
In your opinion, what is the definition of a successful manager?
A successful manager knows how to listen, is an excellent coordinator, communicator, knows how to motivate people, knows how to lead a team by example, adapts methods to opportunities, seeks gain for all parties in the business, makes the impossible possible, encourages innovation and active approach, appreciates good workers, knows how to reward success, finds ways to stimulate co-workers while rewarding loyalty and efficiency with a stake in the business or company.
