As a first question could you give us some background information in terms of history structure and activities of the Hilton in Sofia?
The history of the Hilton in Sofia goes back to the times when the project of constructing a Hilton Hotel was conceived in 1994. It took some time for the financial part to be developed and in the meantime there was a financial crisis in mid 1996-97. The country went through a deep economic downturn and in 1998 this period finalised. Unlike many hotels, we do not only manage the hotel but also partly own it along with three major shareholders. This is a strong signal that we have strong confidence in the future of Bulgaria. The project's value is 47 million dollars, to be exact 46.7 financed by the World Bank. I came here to open the hotel last year in August, up to that point there was construction still in progress and a project team managed it. Last year Hilton took charge of the management and we started managing and hiring people. This was all done within the foreseen deadline for the opening. The target was the end of March and we opened in mid of that month.
What have been the latest developments within the tourism and service sector in Bulgaria and what would you consider to be the Hilton's contribution to this development?
Tourism in Bulgaria should not be mixed up with the tourism activity that it's taking place in Sofia, because Sofia is not necessarily a tourist attraction. Bulgaria has tourism but it is more concentrated on the Black sea coast. During the winter months there is ski tourism in several mountain areas. Sofia does not have much to do with that kind of tourism. During communist times Bulgaria was a favourite tourism destination together with Rumania. Sofia, however, is a business destination. As you know the country plans to enter the EU and NATO, and this brings about a great deal of visitors for these matters. There is foreign investment still coming, there is some privatisation still going on, so there is business traffic taking place. What can be done and what our contribution is that we have brought in a new understanding of quality and service and it is well appreciated. Our location is very convenient because we are opposite to the convention centre, which is one of the biggest facilities in all of Eastern Europe. I think there will be certainly more opportunity for congresses, meetings and conventions to take place since Sofia hosts the biggest convention centre in the region and we can provide sufficient high quality accommodation, which was missed till now. This, I think will be our contribution. Business comes when business is there.
Your hotel is the new comer in the Hotel business here in Sofia, what details can you give us about the Building, your facilities and other aspects that make the Hilton stand above the rest?
There are a couple of key points that set us apart from the rest of the hotels. It's a very modern hotel, its architecture and interior design is very contemporary, it appeals to the modern travellers, mainly people travelling on business of course. The main impression that you get when you enter the lobby is that it is very bright, all the rooms have daylight. We have a safe in every room, separate shower apart from the bath tub, complimentary tea and coffee in every room plus an iron and ironing board. These are things which are immediately noticed because these things are not offered in most of the hotels in Europe let alone the hotels in Sofia. We also provide efficient communication facilities, where you can easily plug in your computer and be online. But the most important element is the service offered by the staff, they are all Bulgarians. Top management of the hotel is very international but the people who deliver the service are all Bulgarians. We provide an extensive and thorough training program. Most of them are bilingual; some of them speak up to three languages. We also put a lot of emphasis on outgoing personality, we believe this is very important and also people that are bright enough to learn fast. We invest a lot of time and money in training and I think that it has paid off.
In terms of Statistics can you give us some figures on what is the number of your staff, rooms etc.?
We have 245 rooms: these include two executive floors,
sixteen suits and one presidential suite. We have
200 employees, we have permanent and we also work
with subcontracting companies, which is a totally
new concept here in Bulgaria. So, our permanent
employees are about 150. Different departments like
dish-washing, room cleaning and security departments
will request more or less employees from the subcontracting
companies as our needs increase or decrease. |
What about your financial performance, can you give us some figures on what has been your operating profit up to this date?
It's quite early since we are still in the initial six months of our operation, we are currently building our customer base, but the US crisis that began with the WTC attacks on Sept 11th is not helping us. In the last two weeks we have seen a steep decline in the occupancy rate; since people do not want to fly the hotels are also suffering from the lack of travel. Our profit margin is very healthy I would say mainly as a result of the low wage expenses as compared to the rest of Europe. I would not reveal any numbers because it is still too early at this point. From a cost efficient point of view if one can manage to keep certain expenses under control it can be quite profitable to run a hotel in Bulgaria and still offer high standards, but one must still be careful. You must remain very cost conscious because the expectations are still very high, so your targets are set accordingly.
What about competition who would you consider to be your closest competitors and what is the Hilton's competitive advantage in regards to them?
You don't have too many alternatives, there is the Kempinski, Radisson SAS and the Sheraton, we all work for the same market but it is a very limited one at the same time. There is yet not enough market to make us all happy and the fight is to gain more market share. It is interesting to see how the customers react to the different offers, it is not so much a price issue although it plays a role to a certain extent, it is more a quality issue. After you have managed to find your acceptable market price, you must then keep the standard and the quality and there you can either win or lose, that is were your competitive edge kicks in to maintain your market share.
What is your vision of the investment climate in Bulgaria and what would you say are the most positive and negative aspects of this environment?
I think Bulgaria has been a bit slow since the years or Perestroika, they wasted a lot of time by not making the transition to the market economy transparent enough and thus not enough foreign investors were attracted because they did not feel confident enough. It took time for the government to realise this and eventually in 1997-98 there was a serious move to change. There has been some progress, but even today when you compare Bulgaria to other countries in the region like Yugoslavia, where the privatization law is more transparent, investors look towards Belgrade as a model to follow. I think that the current government is working on some changes on the legislation to finalise the privatisation and liberalization process in a clear and efficient manner.
What have been your previous experiences and your history with this company?
I have been working for Hilton for 19 years. I started my career in Istanbul; I then moved to Germany. For some time I went back and forth between Turkey and Germany. I have also worked in some other countries like Uzbekistan and also in the United Arab Emirates.
Our readers are all top decision makers and businessmen who are always interested in the visions and opinions of other top decision makers and businessmen such as yourself. What would be your final message to them, as they will be reading about Bulgaria and the Hotel business?
Unfairly Bulgaria has been suffering from a very negative international image. In my opinion the country has great potential in many ways, particularly in what foreign investment is concerned. The country has many hidden secrets. In addition it has a versatile bright and well-educated work force. The country has a good climate that makes your stay most pleasant. But as a final note I would say that the reality of it is more positive than the media or other information sources would make it to be.
Note: World Investment News Ltd cannot be held responsible for the content of unedited transcriptions. |
