Pannonian Lakes in Tuzla this year offered the best conditions for visitors, a new-cascaded beach was created, catering facilities were reconstructed and new equipment was installed, but the visits were below expectations. The reason is very bad weather, which, according to director of the Pannonica Maid Porobić, for this type of work was like a natural disaster.
The Pannonian Lakes complex recorded during the last season more than 400,000 visits, and for this summer, the plan was about 330,000. However, these expectations are not fulfilled due to bad weather.
– This year we sold 204,000 tickets, and taking into account 8,500 subscriptions, we had a total of more than 250,000 visits. During the last season, we had 69, and this 22 sunny days. I think that speaks for itself – says Maid Porobić.
He points out that these data will mean financial loss, but it is difficult to say how much, because the Company “Pannonica” has more activities during winter, like a skating rink, so the accounts are consolidated at the end of the year. However, it is clear that most of the revenue “Pannonica” realizes during the summer and that they depend largely on visits to the lakes.
– We are a self-sustaining company and nobody will help us. We have to deal with what we have and what we are doing – adds Porobić.
This year, “Pannonica” has employed 150 seasonal workers, with 40 permanent employees. They all worked throughout the season, because the standard set within the complex must be maintained regardless of the weather conditions.
– We continued to work outside of the season, during September. We note about 8,000 visits, but this is the number that we have in the middle of the summer in one day. Summer vacations have passed, they are shorter, so good weather in September cannot compensate for the bad weather from June and July – Porobić explains.
Before this season, the most money was invested in the complex, since the previous year was both financially and in terms of visits a record one. Last year’s profit amounted to 314,000 BAM, and in addition, they payed to the state budget, 260,000 BAM of VAT. Everything that has been done this year will wait for the next one with the hope that there will be a lot more sunshine.