Zoran Bačić

Managing Director, Rome, Italy

Zoran Bačić is the Managing Director of Horwath HTL in Italy. With over 30 years of extensive experience, Zoran has established himself as a highly respected professional in the hospitality and real estate sectors. Since joining Horwath HTL in 2009, he has successfully led numerous development and research projects, delivering impactful solutions across the hospitality industry.


Bio

With over 30 years of extensive experience, Zoran has established himself as a highly respected professional in the hospitality and real estate sectors. Since joining Horwath HTL in 2009, he has successfully led numerous development and research projects, delivering impactful solutions across the hospitality industry.

Before transitioning to hospitality, Zoran demonstrated exceptional leadership as the founder and vice president of development for the Adriatic Club in Yugoslavia. He further honed his expertise in the infrastructure sector as a Business Development Manager and provided strategic insights as a Business and Financial Advisor in investment banking. This diverse background has equipped him with a unique perspective and multidisciplinary approach to tackling complex challenges.

Since moving into the hospitality industry in 2006, Zoran has excelled in a wide range of activities, including market feasibility studies, hotel valuations, strategic planning, and hotel asset management. His areas of expertise include:

– Development strategies and market repositioning for owners

– Tailored business planning and valuations specific to the hospitality sector

– Comprehensive hotel asset management solutions

Zoran’s commitment to excellence and industry innovation is further reflected in his membership with the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) since 2016, a distinction that highlights his global expertise and thought leadership.

He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Rijeka and a Doctorate in Economics and Business from the University of Trieste, Italy. Zoran’s strategic vision, combined with his deep industry knowledge, continues to drive exceptional outcomes for his clients and reinforces his reputation as a trusted leader in the hospitality consultancy space.

Expert insights

Cutting edge analysis.

Report

Italy Hotels & Chains Report 2023

The report, now in its 10th year, is an in-depth look at the Italian hospitality market, focusing on the relationship between branded and independent hotels. The report, produced in collaboration with the Italian Confindustria Alberghi Association and Bocconi University, tracks the key performance indicators of the market, including overall hotels and rooms, chain/branded hotels and rooms, international and domestic chains, average hotel size, star ratings and the number of brands by both local and independent chains. The report also tracks the key tourism indicators of the market, such as arrivals, overnight stays, and new hotel developments.

Zoran Bačić
Zoran Bačić
Managing Director, Italy
Report

Italy Hotels & Chains Report 2022

The industry-established reference for the Italian hotel branded supply is now in its 9th edition. This year’s census highlights the first consequences of the Pandemic on the Italian hotel chain supply in terms of room inventory, including existing properties and in the pipeline, and preferred business models. The supply trends observed in the previous years have therefore been accelerated, supporting the consolidation of the hospitality landscape in Italy and, as a result, strengthening the international competitiveness of the Italian Hotel Supply.

Zoran Bačić
Zoran Bačić
Managing Director, Italy
Report

Albania Hotels & Chains Report 2021

The Albania Hotels & Chains Report 2021 offers a detailed snapshot of the evolving hospitality market in Albania, highlighting the growing presence of branded hotels and the overall expansion of the hotel industry in the country. The report examines the trends, challenges, and opportunities that have shaped the industry, especially in light of recent global events.

Zoran Bačić
Zoran Bačić
Managing Director, Italy
Report

Italy Hotels & Chains Report 2021

Horwath HTL Italy have released the 8th edition of the Italy Hotels & Chains Report 2021, a full year since the beginning of the COVID-19 emergency in Europe. We cannot fail to highlight how much the pandemic has affected the entire world, and is still profoundly affecting the entire Italian tourism sector and the industries connected to it. Despite showing dramatic and diverse effects on demand, the 2021 edition confirms the on-going strengthening of the Italian Chain hotel supply and stresses the importance to sustain this trend to ensure the country’s competitiveness against the global markets, especially over the strategic upcoming years.

Zoran Bačić
Zoran Bačić
Managing Director, Italy
Report

Italy Hotels & Chains Report 2020

We sent the 7th edition of the Hotels & Chains in Italy for printing the week before the COVID-19 emergency escalated in Italy, which means that all the supply and demand indicators will need revision. What the report clearly shows, however, is that the fundamentals of the Italian hotel industry contain substantial competitive advantages over other global markets, specifically: – A strong focus on high-quality supply: over 20% of the total supply, over 6,400 hotels is in the four and 5-star segment – Demand is highly diversified: 51% are international visitors, a number that has been growing for 60 years at a CAGR of 2.5%. The numbers of hotels in a Chain continues to develop, reaching 1,695 hotels (5.2% penetration) in 2019, the equivalent of around 181 thousand rooms (16.6% of Italian room supply). The number of brands also grew, increasing by 5.8% to 254 brands (148 domestic and 106 international). Among the business models, for the first time in history, owned and managed (36%) is no longer the dominant model. Leases are now the top way to own a hotel (38%), with Franchising continuing to fall (from 25% in 2013 to 21% now), and management contracts are slowly increasing share (5%).

Zoran Bačić
Zoran Bačić
Managing Director, Italy
Report

Italy: Construction and renovation costs in hospitality

With this latest report from Horwath HTL Italy, we shed light on the world of CapEx in Italian Hospitality. This is the very first report of its kind for Italy, covering the cost of building, converting or renovating hotels and resorts. The report tries to shed light on the world of CapEx associated with hospitality development in Italy. We have collected 63 projects (finally reduced to 50 after data cleaning), totalling over half billion Euros of investments in over five thousands rooms. Through this database, we are able to present what is the per room cost and the sqm cost associated to light or heavy renovations, new buildings or conversions, for several market segments. The data shows that Italy is a very peculiar market for CapEx planning: due to the massive amount of hotels located in historic buildings, which are pretty delicate to approach, renovating in the luxury scale in a top destination may often cost more than building on greenfield. Moreover, unexpectedly, we discovered that branded and independent hotels are not different in terms of CapEx requirements in greenfield developments.

Zoran Bačić
Zoran Bačić
Managing Director, Italy