On Friday, January 14, the traditional ADAC CAMPING GALA, often referred to as the "Camping Oscar," was held in Stuttgart, Germany, where the most important European camping awards are presented.
In addition to the awards for camps in several categories, the highlight of the ceremony was the election to the ADAC Hall of Fame: for the first time a person from Croatia was elected to the Hall of Fame, Assistant Professor Josipa Cvelić Bonifačić, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija.
Uwe Frers, CEO of PINCAMPA said that the award is given for Josipa Cvelić Bonifačić's leading role in modernizing the Croatian camping industry and her contribution to the development of education about the camping industry in higher education.

Josipa Cvelić Bonifačić has dedicated her entire professional life to the development of camping products in Croatia and their promotion on the European market. She got her first job after graduating from the Faculty of Economics in Rijeka as the manager of the Pila campsite in Punat. For a total of 23 years, she was a member of the Management Board of several island companies operating campsites. For two terms she was the president of the Croatian Camping Association, actively engaged in improving the quality and promotion of Croatian campsites, and is still active in the Croatian Camping Association as a leader of education and lecturer. At Valamar Riviera, she was the Director of Operations, Marketing and Sales for 15 Valamar camps for many years.

In addition to her professional involvement, she received her Master's and PhD degrees at FTHM Opatija, where she developed the Camping Management course, which is still attended by all 4th year students. For the last 5 years, she has been successfully leading the lifelong learning program "Camping Resort Management", which has been attended by more than 150 managers and entrepreneurs from Croatia and Slovenia. She has written numerous papers in the field of camping management and is leading the Erasmus+ project CAMPMASTER, which will result in the creation of the first international study programme "Sustainable outdoor hospitality management".


ADAC is the largest automobile club with almost 22 million members and is actively involved in camping tourism in Europe. The ADAC CAMPING GALA is traditionally held during the CMT Stuttgart fair, but unfortunately this year's fair had to be postponed and the ADAC Gala was held virtually. Croatia can be especially proud of the fact that in addition to the existing 13 camps, ADAC awarded eight more Croatian camps with the highest award for quality "Superplatz". Such a significant increase in quality with the selection of a person from Croatia to the Hall of Fame is a recognition for Croatia for all its efforts to improve and develop the quality of camping products.


"I am very touched, grateful and proud to be elected to the ADAC Hall of Fame! I have dedicated my entire life to developing the quality of campsites and spreading knowledge and understanding of this type of accommodation. I am deeply convinced that with the European green transition, and unfortunately with COVID, camping is gaining new significance and a new competitive dimension. The beauty and benefits of staying in nature, the respect for space and greenery, the intimacy and simplicity, but also the quality of service are among the values that are gaining importance over the aggressive, mastodonic and concrete tourism. I would be happiest if this award would encourage all those involved in the strategic development and use of space to look at it through the values that camping teaches us. "


On this occasion, the Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Professor Sandra Janković, Ph.D. said "Congratulations to Assistant Professor Bonifačić on this exceptional award. We are proud that at our Faculty we develop knowledge about sustainable camping management with experts such as Josipa Cvelić Bonifačić, Ph.D. and that we are known for it. Moreover, we have been conducting the Camp Benchmarking project for years, which makes us the only academic institution specializing in this form of tourism. "

 

adac0

adac1

adac2