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Worldwide: Katica Hauptfeld, Skal Councillor
This year, Skål club Kvarner will host the Skål International World Congress in October in Opatija and Rijeka. On this occasion, we are proud to present our director, a longtime Skål member and broadcast the interview she gave for Skal International
Skål is a professional organization of tourism leaders from all over the world, founded in 1932 with the aim of fostering goodwill and friendship in the tourism- travel and transport sectors. Since the first club was founded in Paris in 1932, it grew internationally and today it is the world's largest global network of tourism professionals promoting tourism, business and friendship worldwide, promoting destinations and improving the business network. Nowadays, Skål International exists in 102 countries and has more than 12000 members, who interact to discuss and raise issues of common interest.
Born in the year 1952 in the former Yugoslavia in the Republic of Croatia, I moved as a small child to Africa with my parents where we lived in Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and in Northern Rhodesia today's Zambia, educated in the English language as these countries were part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland at the time an English colony.
This is one of the reasons why I am so attached to Africa and England and the Commonwealth countries as I spent nearly 20 years there. My first employment was at Barclays Bank International as a trainee as well as Eimco International from Salt Lake City before returning to my homeland Croatia.
In Croatia, my first post was in an excellent newly built hotel and after that in a huge national travel agency called Kvarner Express with over 1000 employees where I headed the incoming department for Scandinavia.
Headhunted by Kompas International Ljubljana, Slovenia I worked there for two years before opening up my own company Katarina Line 30 years ago when the war broke out! As a one-man-band to today's 60 employees and with our own offices in Opatija, Split and Dubrovnik I am proud to say that we are famous for our island hopping cruises along the Croatian coastline and islands as well as our tours on land through our country and the surrounding countries of Slovenia, and all other ex Yugoslav countries as well as Italy, Hungary and Austria etc. Our team does wonders for those wanting to see the best of what this area has to offer!
As I am a very ambitious person, together with my family and team of professionals we have as a result started building our own high-class hotel in the centre of Opatija, which will be completed in the year 2023 and plan to build similar hotels in Dubrovnik and Split in the future!
For many years and still today I am serving on the regional and national Croatian tourism boards and have received numerous national international awards for high standards and ethics in the tourism industry and for the great efforts in Opatija, the cradle of Croatian tourism, where our head office is located as well as the Kvarner region and Croatia in general.
Fluent in English, German and Croatian, I have been a member of Skål International for more than 35 years and have attended more than 15 World congresses... at first a member of Skål International Zagreb until I founded Skål International Kvarner in 2010 which was always my dream!! I was the president of Skål International Kvarner for two terms and in April 2012 we successfully hosted the Skål Council Mid-Year Meeting. Today we at Katarina Line, as the official PCO, are intensively working on the World Congress together with the local organising committee, that will be held here in the towns of Rijeka and Opatija from the period of 13th till 18th October 2022.
I am a very proud Skål Councillor for Croatia and always do my best at promoting our wonderful Skål International all over the world while promoting my company and my country... we never travel without our Skål International flag which you can find on all the travel exhibitions that we attend throughout the world!
Skål International has opened up many opportunities for us and I am sure for many others as doing business amongst friends is really wonderful and fruitful!!
I really hope to see many of you here in October. We will have a great time together which after all we deserve after the pandemic...
Stay safe... see you soon!
KATARINA HAUPTFELD
COUNCILLOR, SKÅL INTERNATIONAL CROATIA
