Mario Seric , Senior Consultant, Horwath Consulting Zagreb, to sit on the 'Trends in Integrated Leisure Resorts and Investments' panel

July 30th, 2003 -- Mario Seric, MBA, Partner & Senior Consultant, Horwath Consulting Zagreb, Croatia, will deliver a speech titled 'Opportunities for Integrated Leisure Resorts in Croatia and South-East Europe' to a distinguished audience at the 2003 European GOLF Investment and Real Estate Conference in Athens on November 29th, 2003.

He will also sit on the 'Trends in Integrated Leisure Resorts and Investments' panel on Saturday.

Mario is very familiar with the international hotel and resort industry, especially regarding the trends in the U.S. hotel industry, the entire Mediterranean resort industry, the markets in South-East Europe (Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro) as well as Eastern European markets (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia). His core competences are the Mediterranean and South-East Europe, while Mario is very knowledgeable about the overall tourism trends in the Mediterranean and South-East Europe.

"Croatia and other countries in South-East Europe provide significant opportunities for tourism development," explains Mario. "As an important market driver, golf resorts will certainly benefit local communities in terms of higher tourist traffic and higher revenues. Having on mind high seasonality of business in the Mediterranean countries of South-East Europe, golf development should also help extend the season to the spring and fall. On the other hand, the investors may earn returns by developing golf resorts in the markets that are viable but do not have any golf resorts, thus earning the first-mover competitive advantages."

Career summary

CAREER OBJECTIVE

To create values to governments, investors, development and management companies in their ventures in tourism, resort, hotel and other leisure industries in Croatia and South-East Europe.

EDUCATION

• CORNELL UNIVERSITY, School of Hotel Administration, Ithaca, USA
  May 2003
  Master of Management in Hospitality

• UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB, Graduate School of Economics, Zagreb, Croatia
  December 1998 
  Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics, Specialization in Tourism

• ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY, Chicago, USA
  August 1996 - May 1997
  Open Society Institute (OSI) Undergraduate Exchange Programme, Business Administration

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• SENIOR CONSULTANT & PARTNER 
  June 2003 - current
  Horwath Consulting Zagreb, Croatia

  • Developed an asset management plan for a major company in Montenegro

  • Valuated management contract by a global operator for a major resort in Croatia

• CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT INTERN
  Marriott Vacation Club International, Orlando, Florida, USA
  January 2003

  • Proposed recommendations for improvement of the company's referral programme

  • Assessed the company's Web site and recommended customer-centered solutions

• DEVELOPMENT & FEASIBILITY INTERN
  Marriott International, Regional Headquarters for Europe, Middle East & Africa, based in Zurich, Switzerland
  May 2002 - August 2002

  • Conducted business intelligence in three cities in South-East Europe and proposed a development strategy for expansion in the region

  • Carried market research of serviced apartments in nine cities in Western Europe

  • Researched the national and municipal taxes that apply to hotel business in eleven countries in Eastern Europe

• Marriott International, Corporate Headquarters, Washington, DC, USA
  January 2002

  • Conducted market and financial analysis for valuation of a management contract

  • Carried out market research for development of a new hotel

• PROJECT MANAGER
  September 2001 - May 2002
  Starwood Hotels & Resorts, USA

  • Managed team for development of new Sheraton hotel adjacent to Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, facilitated by Cornell University

  American Airlines, USA

  • Managed team for the corporate strategic scenario planning in the wake of September 11th, facilitated by Cornell University

• MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT
  January 1998 - July 2001 
  Horwath Consulting Zagreb, Croatia

  • Carried market research projects, including yearly benchmark survey of leading Croatian hotels -- Horwath Hotel Survey, from 1998 through 2001

  • Conducted market evaluations and marketing plans with emphasis on strategic positioning and market projections for hotels and tourist destinations

  • Developed marketing plans, feasibility studies, best-use concepts, asset management plans, restructuring, and coached hotel employees in marketing and sales, for leading Croatian hotel companies

  • Administered projects for Croatian government, including Strategic marketing plan for Croatian tourism, in co-operation with THR Barcelona, Spain, for which conducted market research of hotel and travel industry in Croatia and Europe, developed strategic positioning and market projections from 2001 - 2005

  • Facilitated tourism projects and due diligence for business and institutional clients, including Governments of Croatia and Austria, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, international hotel companies and a hotel development project in Moscow, Russia

Further information

For further information, contact Peter Michel Heilmann, Founder & Director, INVgolf.

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