New Deal Europe weekly update on post Covid-19 travel, Week 10
How Covid-19 has affected the hotel industry
In the latest in our series of reports from the Balkans on the current travel situation there, we take a look at how Covid-19 has affected the hotel industry. We chat with Adrian Adam, who has high level experience in international hotel sales, and is currently the General Manager of the Marriott Bucharest Floreasca in Romania’s capital.
NDE: Thanks for chatting with us today Adrian. Can you tell us a bit about your hotel, category, where it is located, what business normally stays there, so that we can get a feel for the situation?
AA: The Courtyard by Marriott Bucharest Floreasca opened in October in a brand new building, after an investment of 20,5m EUR. It is located in the business district of Bucharest where most of the international companies present in Romania are situated. Is it also just next to the metro station that connects the city and 3 minutes away from one of the newest malls in Bucharest — Promenada Mall. Within walking distance is also the biggest park in the city, Herastrau as well as the no 1 touristic objective in Bucharest — The Village Museum.
The hotel is ranked as 4* and has a capacity of 259 rooms, 7 meeting rooms with the biggest one suitable for 200 guests; the restaurant has a strong personality offering international dishes with a local flavour. The Chef personally selects ingredients from local producers or from the market, which adds an authentic and much appreciated flavour.
NDE: Seems like you are in the heart of everything and capture all market segments. How is the situation in Romania at the moment? Are the borders open? How is the government controlling things?
AA: The situation seems pretty serious in Romania at the moment as the number of Corona cases is high in spite of the very tough isolation period in the beginning of the pandemic. Countries have different degrees of measures when arriving into Romania and the local authorities are also adopting various measures (including 14 days self isolation) when arriving from “red” destinations. Still most of the international airlines are flying in on a daily basis bringing both leisure and business travellers. Wearing masks in indoor spaces is compulsory at the moment but Romania has the chance to create memorable moments for its visitors in the outdoor destinations. This is why we see international travellers enjoying the city of Bucharest or other amazing places like Danube Delta, Black Sea or Carpathian mountains even in this period.
NDE: In that case, is it better to be a hotel located in the capital, in the country or at the seaside at the moment?
AA: The city destinations are suffering the most as seaside or mountains are classic destinations for domestic travellers and pretty much marketed for foreign visitors as well. This has also some great advantages for the visitors to the city though, as they can take advantage of some amazing deals in terms of prices, availability and also much better services and attention. Last week I had some interesting chats with some of my guests and they were just amazed about the beauty of the city and the level of services they got during their 3 days trip in Bucharest!
NDE: That’s good to know. In what other ways is this Summer different from other Summers?
AA: The main difference is that there is no clear expectation about tomorrow. The rules of the game are changing rapidly depending on the pandemic evolution. Tourism is suffering a lot, occupancy is at very low level and all suppliers are struggling to survive the crisis.
NDE: So in order to survive, what measures are you putting in place to guarantee people’s safety?
AA: We are part of the Marriott brand and we get a lot of support from the brand in terms of safety measures in this period. We do have a designated Cleanliness Champion who is certified as an expert in the most advanced cleanliness and hygiene techniques and technology. We are using advanced technologies such as electrostatic sprayer for public areas, there are clear standards and cleaning protocols in place related to cleanliness, guests and staff flows, measuring staff temperatures on all shifts, keeping at least 3 days in between occupied rooms etc . 100% of our guests are very satisfied about the implemented measures related with the safety during the pandemic.
100% of our guests are very satisfied about the implemented measures related with the safety during the pandemic.
NDE: What are you doing to attract more business to your hotel?
AA: First of all we use all our sales resources to attract business in this period. As expected there is much more domestic business than before the crisis, therefore we focus our efforts on the domestic market, on families that are spending city breaks within the country, on local business travellers and on local events. Still our strength is the international corporate market and in spite of the travel restrictions we see a positive trend in the last weeks as there are a lot of companies that are only able to sort out their needs with face to face meetings or live support from international travellers.
NDE: Since hotels have focused on driving revenue in recent years, how challenging is it to move to a sales based occupancy strategy?
AA: This is a very good question as Bucharest was achieving a very high hotel occupancy, being a very corporate destination as well as a new leisure destination. The MICE segment was also booming as Bucharest was offering really decent rates for high level of services. Now all hotels are at a very low occupancy and we all share a small piece of business. This is a challenge as we do have to be attractive enough for new types of customers from local market as well as for the international travellers that are looking at us as a leisure destination. Here we have to convince them we are a safe destination and at a correct price level.
NDE: When do you think business will get back to normal and what makes you think this?
AA: We are positive that in September the business will improve a lot but it all depends of course on the status of the pandemic. For sure the curve of the improvement will be long and it is hard to say when the level will be just like before the crisis. Probably it will take at least one year or even more.
For sure the curve of the improvement will be long and it is hard to say when the level will be just like before the crisis. Probably it will take at least one year or even more.
NDE: How do you think you will work with tour operators and travel agents, moving forward?
AA: We will continue our way of work with travel agents and tour operators as the crisis will be a temporary one. As the Marriott brand we communicate a lot with our partners and we offer flexible solutions in line with our policy.
NDE: If tour operators would like to work with you, what kind of programme could they do from your hotel?
AA: We are very open to creating new programmes for our agents and we use our local knowledge to assist our business partners. Recently we have lunched some packages for city breaks that include a local personalised guide where guests can get in touch directly with the guide after they have placed the reservation, and they can agree a theme for their visit such as a romantic tour or a the Communist Time in Bucharest, Design & Architecture, etc etc
NDE: What do you think will be different about travel in the future, and how will that impact you?
AA: The answer depends on the medical side. If there is a treatment for this new virus then the entire situation will change for the better very fast. Travel is in our DNA and we all miss our city breaks, our holidays or even our business trips. But of course we will all look more in detail about how safe is a destination from the implemented measures point of view, about how the destination is marketed from this point of view, about how a hotel is gaining its trust in the eyes of its potential guests. I think we all have to be more flexible, more creative in terms of offering same welcome feelings for our guests while offering the safety measures.
Questions by Robert Dee, co-founder of New Deal Europe, a travel forum and marketplace that brings together tour operators, tourist boards, and suppliers with a focus on the Balkan region of Europe, www.newdealeurope.com.
If you would like to take part in or blogs from the Balkans series, or if you would like to contribute an article, please contact us at info@newdealeurope.com.
