Western civilisation

Ambitious goals
"Our plans for 2012 involved signing eight contracts and increasing the total number of hotels in the chain to 20. However, our expansion went beyond this and we finished last year with 12 signed contracts," reveals Gheorghe Marian Cristescu, Best Western's country sales director for Poland. "Some of these hotels will open after some time, as is the case with the Browar Mariacki hotel in Katowice, which is to welcome back guests in 2014 after extensive modernisation work. Best Western Plus Park Chomiąża will also start operating in Q2 2013. We would like to have 30 hotels in our Polish portfolio by the end of 2013, including 25 in operation. This last year has shown us that the number could get bigger," adds Gheorghe Marian Cristescu. One newly signed contract concerns the Galicya hotel in Kraków, which is owned by hotel operator Satoria Group. This is not the first time Best Western has worked with Satoria. Three other hotels of the chain are to be run under franchises: Best Western Felix and Best Western Portos in Warsaw, as well as Best Western Hotel Kraków Old Town. Another partner of Best Western is Dobry Hotel, with which the company has been negotiating two further projects after having worked together on Best Western Arkon Park and Best Western Bonum in Gdańsk, as well as Best Western Villa Aqua in Sopot. In Poland, Best Western opens mainly three- and four-star hotels. It only has only one two-star hotel (Best Western Villa Aqua in Sopot). Best Western Plus is categorised as a three+ or four-star brand, while Best Western Premier hotels have four to five stars. "I see our hotels as strong three-star or four-star business and family facilities. The formats that will develop most dynamically will be Best Western, Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier - in that order. Two Best Western hotels will probably be converted to Best Western Plus in 2013. We are also in negotiations with three investors concerning Best Western Premier hotels," discloses Gheorghe Marian Cristescu.

Chains in a crisis
Where does this interest in the Polish market stem from? "It results from our involvement in Poland and from the research and analyses which we have carried out. In addition, the situation in Europe and Poland leads us to believe that our plans will be realised. More and more investors are looking for strong business partners, because they are not able to weather the crisis without the support provided by a chain. Chains lose the least because they have their own distribution channels, strong brand recognition and developed models of savings - they know how to react in a crisis situation. It is a great opportunity for us," claims Gheorghe Marian Cristescu, who adds that new investors in Poland have not had an easy start. Creative solutions for existing facilities are increasingly often being sought for. "At the moment we are not just looking for new locations, we are also receiving a lot of inquiries from the market, either directly or via consulting companies. Individual investors have noticed the need to change their brands and the need to be taken under the wing of a chain. We estimate that the division is 70:30, with existing hotels taking the dominant share. We have also noticed that the decision-making time for initiating cooperation is getting shorter," he adds. He emphasises that the ambitious expansion plans of the chain are reinforced by Best Western's reputation on the hotel market. "We are flexible, which is why we are popular with investors. Of course, the facilities are assessed to ensure they meet Best Western standards, as well as for their location and development plans. We examine each hotel, and when one fails to meet our requirements we agree on a schedule for implementing changes and adjusting it to our standards. These concern the look of the rooms, the equipment and the customer service. The recommendations are updated every year and evolve together with the market. The next thing we do is to introduce a given hotel to the chain. We give it the brand, the know-how and support in the form of corporate sales and the bestwestern.pl reservation system, which supports the marketing of the rooms in our hotels. Every year we also draw up a marketing plan for the whole chain, taking into account the individual needs of existing hotels," explains Gheorghe Marian Cristescu. He also points out that the hotel market in Poland in 2012 was good because of the European Football Championships. "This year, however, will probably be more challenging and we could see a possible decline in the financial results of the hotel segment. But we are not putting on the brakes," he adds.