Whoever was there, was there, at the end of July in Vela Luka, during the traditional event “Trace in the Endless” dedicated to the legendary Oliver, it will be easier to find a needle in a haystack than a free bed in his island town.
Everything is already full, four months before the event, everything has been booked long ago.
Vela Luka is waiting for another invasion of people during those few days. So much so that at the moment, a place to rest can only be found under a tree, on the beach, or somewhere on the island. The rest is long gone. The evenings dedicated to the nightingale have turned into a must-have event. The festival has outgrown itself, turned into a regional event, which is why there are no more free rooms in either private or hotel accommodation, in the peak period. Hoteliers from Vela Luka tell us that there are already waiting lists for those days, so if a unit goes on the market, it won’t take a minute for it to be booked.
This year, locals tell us, Vela Luka will be even more bustling, it will have an unprecedented anthill. People will come by speedboats, yachts, dinghies, sailboats, scooters, inflatable boats, catamarans, ferries, pedal boats… Oliver’s admirers will arrive from all over Dalmatia, Croatia, Germany, Austria, Bosnia, Slovenia, Serbia… There will be increased transportation from Split, via Orebić, on the day of the concert, and the night before and after, people will be looking for anything for a sleepover, anywhere on the entire island.
The director of the Vela Luka County Port Authority, Boris Žuvela, says that since the beginning of the year, people have been asking him about the procedures for anchoring in the port on the day of the concert on July 29th.
People often ask us about coming to Vela Luka by boat during the event. The Port Authority does not make reservations either then or otherwise. Whoever comes first, ties up or anchors there – says Director Žuvela.
For a longer stay, they have Marina Korkyra in Vela Luka, which has long since filled its capacity for these events.
Even if we had another 300, 400 free seats, it would explode for the concert and in the days surrounding it. This manifestation, an unforgettable gathering in honor of Oliver, grew into something big, huge. As far as we are concerned, we only have 20 places left for VIP guests from the organizers, all the rest through the offered three-day package were reserved a long time ago. And there has been a waiting list for a long time. There are already about 30 ships on it. Guests arrive from all over the Adriatic, on boats from seven to 35 meters – says Nenad Jurić, one of the directors of Marina Korkyra in Vela Luka.
It is already being assumed that accommodation prices will temporarily and sharply increase at that time for some apartment owners. Last year, the people of Vela Luka told us, they also took advantage of the huge crowds in the small accommodation space. This resulted in cases where an apartment for two, which had been seemingly reserved for months before the event, suddenly became available right before the event. With the new price, which jumped from the usual 100 to 250 or even 300 euros per night. And many landlords do not even rent per night, but at least for three. And such accommodations would find guests without any problems. Nothing new, everything has already been seen, both for the first Split Ultra, and for Thompson’s concerts in Zagreb and Sinj, accommodation was paid for at a premium even then.
Listen, there were rumors that there were such situations, anything is possible. If it is true, these are sporadic cases. There were price increases, but we as the Tourist Board cannot influence that, we cannot prevent it from happening. If they do, it would be good if they were within a reasonable framework, because everything else could lead to commercialism. And we certainly don’t want commercialism. Our focus is on the beautiful, something so spectacular, full of community, dedicated to the song, the atmosphere, in honor of Oliver – explains Dorjan Dragojević, director of the Vela Luka Tourist Board.
And the head of Vela Luka tourism confirms to us that Oliver’s town is a hive of activity during the days of “The Search for the Endless”. The result is an absolute booking of all available capacities, which is why guests are looking for accommodation all over the island.
I know from private landlords and hoteliers that a large number of our visitors book accommodation a year in advance. And if someone new wants to come, it’s hard for them to find something free. It’s very hard to find it during those days. We don’t deal with accommodation, but we suggest people look for it in Blato, Lumbarda, Korčula, Orebić…
A huge number of people come that day by boat, car, across Pelješac. It’s true, everything is booked, the interest is huge, it grows year after year. When people experience a concert like that, that atmosphere, it simply draws them to come back again. It’s interesting that as a tourist board we don’t do any advertising, promotion, but regardless, the story about the event has simply spread among people. And people have responded to us with massive arrivals – says Dorjan Dragojević. More
By Tanja Šimundić Bendić, SLOBODNA DALMACIJA
