Monday, June 2, 2008

Tourism in turkey

Turkey's five-star hotel sector is booming. Indeed, upscale Turkish hotels have become important spots for national and international business travelers and holidaymakers -- with İstanbul being almost shaken by a wave of new upscale hotel openings.






Frank Reichenbach, general manager of the Mövenpick Hotel İstanbul and the hotel chain's regional manager for Turkey, describes what it is that makes Turkish cities attractive for a number of upscale international hotel brands. In an interview with Today's Zaman he talks about the potential and difficulties of the Turkish five-star hotel sector and forecasts that "it is quality and service which will be the engine of the Turkish hotel business."

"We are a good upscale brand," Reichenbach added about the Mövenpick group. With two types of accommodation, business and conference hotels, as well as holiday resorts, the company has clearly defined its position as a first-class establishment. In İstanbul, İzmir and Bodrum there are currently three five-star hotels in operation.

Most notably, opening five years ago, the İstanbul location shows a capacity utilization of over 50 percent regular guests, which Reichenbach calls "more than satisfying." Around 65 percent of these are foreigners -- with the core markets being European countries, especially the UK, Germany, Switzerland and France - and approximately 80 percent of guests are business clientele.

İstanbul top in business and convention segment

Our focus group comprises business travelers and convention guests, explains Reichenbach. "İstanbul, especially the rapidly developing and central business district of Levent, is really an excellent location for business travelers and convention guests," he underlines, adding that this segment is surely the strongest one among the Turkish five-star industry. Therefore, all of the 249 İstanbul rooms, including 71 executive rooms, 21 superior suites and a Skyline Deluxe suite on the panoramic 20th floor, are tailored towards the requirements of businesspeople. All manner of meetings and conferences and every imaginable type of banquet can be completely catered in the Mövenpick İstanbul.

Is İstanbul also well equipped for big events, Formula 1, for example, which took place for the fourth time in İstanbul this May? "Generally, yes," Reichenbach says. "Over the last couple of years the city has made significant progress in this regard. Even I would wish to have one or two more important events here."

However, he points out that the city still suffers from serious infrastructure problems. "It shouldn't be that our clients spend three hours on a flight from Europe to İstanbul and then get stuck in traffic for another two hours to get to the hotel," he underlines and urgently recommends better coordination and cooperation among the city's administrative districts. "There are currently more than 20 municipalities in İstanbul alone. Sure, they are doing good things, but to handle the traffic problems of a big city like İstanbul, everyone has to pull together," he emphasizes, expressing his hope that the status of being a European Capital of Culture in 2010 will be an effective incentive.

Nonetheless, in his opinion, İstanbul is currently one of the best cities for operators to have a hotel in, and he points out that over the last couple of years city tourism in İstanbul broke one record after the other in terms of visitor numbers. Indeed, according to a ranking done by the New York-based Travel and Leisure, one of the world's most popular travel magazines, İstanbul is the third-best city in Europe, after Florence and Rome. It was further ranked eighth in the favorite world cities category, leaving New York and Bangkok behind.

And the market is still open for newcomers, "With regard to the rising number of city tourists, we don't have too many hotels yet in İstanbul," Reichenbach said, hinting that in terms of revenue, the upscale segment holds the best potential.

The Mövenpick Hotel İstanbul general manager knows all about his holding's establishments in the Turkish Mediterranean part as well. Discussing difficulties related with shrinking revenue and a lack of utilization capacity in this region, he adds, "Well, regarding our own establishments in İzmir and Bodrum, we as the Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts are looking optimistically to the future." But he admits it is not easy to guarantee high capacity utilization in these regions.

For this reason, the company counts on business travelers in the Mediterranean region. The Mövenpick Hotel İzmir, which opened its doors in mid-February 2008, is clearly established as a five-star business hotel. The hotel has been extensively refurbished over the past two years, today offering 185 rooms, which include 38 executive rooms, 17 junior suites and a royal suite.

The exclusive Mövenpick Resort Bodrum is also business oriented; opening in the beginning of July 2007, it offers three meeting rooms equipped with state-of-the-art audiovisual technology for up to 100 people as well as a business center that "is ideal for out-of-town meetings," Reichenbach explains. Centrally located and situated on the hilltop area of Bitez, with 92 generous rooms, including nine suites all decorated in Mediterranean style, the hotel ensures a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere for holidaymakers but also draws a lot of local business clientele from the bigger cities as well. "In the Bodrum region one has to get creative," and for that reason, the company introduced a special business idea that allows clients to rent the entire resort in the summer.

The Turkish market openly accepts these methods of diversification, as the Turkish director underlines. "Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is a brand highly regarded by business travelers and holidaymakers. İstanbul, İzmir, Bodrum and soon Ankara -- all in all I think, this is a good balance," he says. However, in the Mediterranean region, revenues are generally much lower and occupancy is usually around 20 percent less on average.

Quality and service against shrinking revenue

When asked what could be handy tools in raising customer profiles, he urged a shift away from the current, predominant low-cost and all-inclusive business. "Quality and service will be the engine of the hotel business" he is certain, and suggests that the government and tourism authorities can also help to ensure better standards, "for example, by distributing their stars more carefully," he says.

Quality and service is also what makes Mövenpick's secret of success. "Punctuality, reliability, security and a certain passion for detail is what marks our values," Reichenbach added, noting that the company's Swiss heritage is a point of pride. "We put additional emphasis on good food and excellent gastronomic service. In İstanbul, for example, we offer at least six open bottles of wine every day, and surely everyone knows our world-famous Mövenpick premium ice cream," he adds enthusiastically. For that reason the company builds only on its long-term, owner-operator relationship and predominantly runs its hotels in the form of leasing or management contracts. "We would never do franchising, but always keep a certain influence to ensure the Mövenpick quality standards," he emphasizes. And as he underlines, these standards "marry very well" with uncompromising Turkish hospitality. "I really praise Turkish warmth. It is even better than what you experience in many European locations," he says.

Does the Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts expansion plan include adding new hotels to its lineup in Turkey? Reichenbach says "yes," while underlining that the current situation of the business is very promising. "A large and well-educated labor market, a huge domestic market, a relatively stable lira and continuous growth between 5 and 7 percent over the last several years are definitely positive location factors for investors in Turkey," he states.

For now, and as a first part of its portfolio expansion in Turkey, the Mövenpick group recently signed a management agreement with the Varan Group for a five-star business hotel in Ankara. Comprising 150 rooms and suites, it is scheduled to open in 2010. "I hope to be in the Belek/Antalya region soon. A hotel in this region should certainly be part of our portfolio. Also, a second establishment in İstanbul could be interesting. Well, there are many, very exciting locations across the country," he says, speculating about possible expansion ideas.

Mövenpick aims for upscale guests

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, an upscale hotel management company with 12,000 employees, represents over 90 hotels in 25 countries. Serving around 5.8 million guests per year, the international hotel group with roots in Switzerland is still forging ahead with its expansion and has a stated objective of increasing its hotel portfolio to 100 by the year 2010. With two hotel types, business and conference hotels, as well as holiday resorts, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has established a clearly defined presence in the upscale four and five-star segment. The hotel group is owned by Mövenpick Holding (66.7 percent) and the Kingdom Group (33.3 percent).

No comments: