Dejan Pejcinovic, General Manager of Fruske Terme Resort – The Most Important Factor in a Successful Business are People and Their Readiness to Constantly Learn

With 30 years of experience in the hotel business, the general manager of the Fruske Terme Resort, Dejan Pejcinovic, says that getting out of one’s comfort zone leads toward progress. For the Diary of Success, he talks about the vision of the development of the destination in Vrdnik, the guests, their needs and the way they can be fulfilled, but also about his team – those who are responsible for the success.

Thirty years in the hotel business, the Ambassador of Quality Service and the bearer of the Hotel Industry Leader title, the successful GM of the Fruske Terme Resort – the biggest resort in the country. What did the development go like?

Before the hotel business, or, as I like to say, in my previous life, I was active in microbiology and studied chemistry. In the 1990s, as a student, I started out at Hotel Hyatt and fell in love with the hotel business, which to me is a more beautiful image of the reality, the desire to fulfill and exceed the guest’s expectations and to turn each foreigner into an ambassador of our country.

What followed were eight years of working in Cyprus at the then best restaurant on the island and at the hotels Four Seasons 5* and Le Meridien 5*.

The return to Serbia happened in 2003. Aiming to constantly learn and upgrade my managerial skills, but also looking to verify the acquired knowledge, I enrolled in the College of Hotel Management. In that period, I took part in the planning, construction and launching of Hotel Crystal in Belgrade. That was also my first hotel pre-opening, which is a huge experience in every aspect. After that, Hotel Zira, 6 years as the GM, then Hotel Mona Plaza Belgrade – pre-opening and system activation in the GM position, and here I am now in the fastest growing destination in the country – the Fruske Terme Resort.

How come a native of Belgrade ends up on Fruska Gora?

As a lover of nature and active vacation, I often went with my family to Fruska Gora, to escape Belgrade for a weekend. Thanks to a set of lucky circumstances, I met the owner of Promont Group, Milinko Cicmil, and heard his vision. It is that vision and the plan-based approach to building a new destination, 75 km away from Belgrade and 20 km from Novi Sad, the projections and the realization of the planned projects within the deadlines which are fantastic for today’s circumstances, made me want to be part of this story of development.

Also, I wanted to give my contribution to the construction of a stable system, based on Serbian hospitality, with the implementation of international standards.

We are already making history in the sense of a planned forming and construction of a destination, the Fruska Gora Resort. From the first hotel in the destination, Hotel Premier Aqua 5*, opened in 2012, through the Vrdnicka Kula ethno settlement, opened in 2015, all the way to Hotel Fruske Terme, opened in late 2019, the family company grew and through its activities, improved this whole area. At the moment, the company employs over 300 people from the area, from Novi Sad, Belgrade, but also from the whole Serbia. I have to say that I am honored to be part of this story.

You mention the destination, but also a resort and several hotels?

– Premier Aqua is a 5* hotel, the first “adults only” hotel in Serbia, a sophisticated package for people who expect a high level of service and comfort: five meeting rooms with an accompanying equipment, an indoor and outdoor pool and the first medical spa certified by ESPA (European Spas Association) and the harmonization with their strict criteria;

– An ethno village, on the slopes of the Fruska Gora National Park, with its picturesque wooden houses and an excellent ethnic restaurant and a wine cellar, is a favorite of the lovers of nature and good food. The ethno complex also features a multifunctional hall of 540 m2 with the most modern technical equipment for the organization of business meetings. These days we are also mounting a large LED screen, so that the organization of all the business gatherings would be facilitated;

– Hotel Fruske Terme, meant for families and business gatherings, with 201 accommodation units, 11 meeting rooms and the largest wellness and spa center in Serbia, which spreads on 10,000 m2. The guests also have at their disposal a garage with 400 spaces, a laundry and a bus stop.

The term “resort” that we use represents a place for rest where the guests have no need to go outside the borders of the complex, and all our facilities are close to each other and comprise a joint product. Through further development, we will add more elements and it will truly be a full offer and a unique destination.

So, there are new development plans?

Certainly. What is new is the complex of outdoor pools Termalna Rivijera on an additional 10,000 m2, whose opening is planned for the end of May. A children’s world, water slides and two semi-Olympic infinity pools. Also, at the end of October, two units of the residential complex Fruske Residence, with 144 apartments with a restaurant, garages, a children’s park, a grocery and additional features, are to be completed. Furthermore, the construction of another hotel is planned, primarily meant for the families, with larger rooms, a playroom and all the accompanying features. The works are to start at the end of the year.

This truly sounds fascinating. Who are your guests and what are the business results like?

Thanks to the conceptual variety of the offer, the equipment and the harmonization of the capacities, our guests are business people who come to educational expert gatherings, families, individuals, corporate guests at team building sessions, people who come for the massage, cosmetics and medical treatments.

In addition to Belgrade and Novi Sad, as the two strongest emission centers, we are quite available to other cities in the area, but also to foreigners, because we are only a 45 minutes’ drive away from the airport by highway.

85% of our guests are local guests, but we expect this ratio to change with the normalization of the health situation. Last year was record-breaking by all business indicators. Banja Vrdnik placed third in the category of the spas of Serbia, and, on the level of all the destinations that are monitored, we are in the seventh or eight position, which is an excellent result relative to the available capacities and the infrastructure of other destinations.

We are all familiar with the problem of the lack of available workforce. How are you dealing with this problem and who are the people who achieve such results?

Yes, the lack of workforce is all-present, not just in hospitality, but, it seems, in all industries. We are truly trying to be a desirable employer. We secure all the necessary work conditions, we organize the transport of our employees, we educate people, we introduce new colleagues to the job with a plan and we turn them into top quality hotel workers.

All the young people who join us have the opportunity to learn and work with top quality professionals from our field, who have proven themselves working here and abroad and who want to transfer their knowledge to the new generations. With the development and opening of new capacities, new jobs are being created constantly, and we have a need for new people. Those who want to work, learn and be part of the Fruske Terme team, can contact us at any time.

During the pandemic, the company decided to keep all the employees, even though there was a period of five months when the majority of our capacities did not work. It was a humane move, but also an excellent business move, because we managed to keep most of our people. All those who are in the team are already well trained for their positions, with all the necessary knowledge that is needed in order to meet the guests in the best way possible and provide a top quality service.

The most important factor in a successful business are people and their readiness to constantly develop and learn. Every time things are “difficult” for us, we should be happy, because, going out of the comfort zone is what leads us toward progress. We are not perfect, there is always room for improvement and an upgrade, but the acknowledgments and awards that are coming from everywhere mean that the public and the users of our services have recognized us and that we are on the right course! It is an additional motive to us and a responsibility to be better each day and to maintain and improve the existing standards.

Promont group d.o.o. Novi Sad

Promont group

Fruške terme Resort

Resort Fruške terme

Premier Aqua

Ethno settlement Vrdnička kula

Fruške Residence

Dejan Pejčinović

Milinko Cicmil

Hyatt

Four Seasons

Le Meridien

Crystal

Zira

Mona Plaza

European Spas Association

ESPA

Termalna Rivijera outdoor pool complex

Banja Vrdnik

Ambassador of Quality Service

Hotel Industry Leader

adults only hotel

meeting rooms

medical spa

wellness center

spa center

eKapija

Diary of Success