'Azerbaijan is big and great place for development of tourism sector'

By AzerNews

AzerNews has interviewed Managing Director of the Sophos Hotels SA, Mr. Fernand Donnet and Vice President of Operations in Central and Eastern Europe of Wyndham Hotel Group, Mr. Edwin Broers, over the development of the hospitality market in Azerbaijan.

SOPHOS HOTELS SA is a Swiss company active mainly in Central and Eastern Europe in the field of hotel expertise and management. Independent and private, the company works on a mandate basis for private and institutional investors.

Wyndham Hotel Group is the world's largest and most diverse hotel company, encompassing over 7,340 hotels and approximately 627,440 rooms in 66 countries under 15 hotel brands. Headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., with offices around the globe including London and Hong Kong, the company employs more than 4,000 associates worldwide.

Ramada Hotel & Suites Baku, Days Hotel Baku, Ramada Baku (Shikhov Beach) and Ramada Plaza Gence are the Wyndham Hotel Group brands in Azerbaijan. Ramada Hotel & Suites Baku and Days Hotel Baku are the hotels managed by Sophos Hotels SA in Azerbaijan.

By Gulgiz Dadashova

Q.: Ramada Hotel & Suites Baku is a hotel managed by Sophos Hotels SA in Azerbaijan. What makes these hotels unique in Baku?

Mr. Fernand Donnet - I would say the project itself and the construction are great. The hotel is an iconic and fantastic one as a boutique hotel in Baku.

In Baku there are quite a large number of big and important hotels, but I think this hotel is topnotch. Most of the rooms are very large or junior suites or suites, which makes quite a difference from other properties that have only regular rooms.

Q.: What novelties is Sophos Hotels SA seeking to bring to the Azerbaijani hospitality market?

Mr. Fernand Donnet - I would say Swiss flavor, Swiss taste. We are really focused on the Swiss hospitality and we would like to share it with the Azerbaijani hotel market. We have huge experience and we would really love to bring it to Azerbaijan.

Do you consider your business in Baku to be successful enough to significantly promote the hospitality industry here? What about your place in the hospitality market in Azerbaijan, which seems quite competitive amid the presence of other world brands here?

Mr. Fernand Donnet - I can confirm that the Baku market is quite competitive and nearly all the world brands are represented here. We are already in the hotel market of Baku with one of the Wyndham Hotel Group brands -- Days Hotel -- it's a mid-market, three-star hotel, but it is quite performing. We now already know how to work with the Baku market, how to do business in Baku, we are connected with a lot of clients and companies, who are visiting this destination. So, I can say that we are quite competitive and strong in the mid-market. Regarding this property , I am sure that we will be quite successful also due to the fact that this hotel is quite specific. This hotel distinguishes from others with its unique architecture and rooms, so I think we have a different product in this market.

Mr. Edwin Broers - As Wyndham Hotel Group, we are present with four hotels in Azerbaijan - three in Baku and one in Ganja, and obviously all the properties are different. For example, Ramada Hotel and Suites Baku is quite a specific property, and is quite unique in the market, I would say. We also have Days Hotel Baku under the management of Sophos Hotels SA; it is a mid-market hotel, which, I think, the city needs more. There is a large representation of upper market in Baku and actually not a lot of mid-market hotels here. And the Shikhov hotel that we also have at the Shikhov beach is a totally different hotel, with different offers and needs in that part of the city, and the hotel in Ganja is the one and only branded hotel in the city, and is not like the ones in Baku.

When it comes to the Azerbaijani hotel market, we have just been reading the Smith Travel Research (STR) report this morning, which gives another view of occupancy of Baku, and I think at the moment Baku is very dependent on events, forums, European song events, sports events. That is why a huge responsibility lies on the local authorities to organize this sort of events and to put Baku on the market.

Q.: What impressed you most here?

Mr. Edwin Broers - The city is very remarkable. I have been visiting Baku for five years and every time I come here it surprises me, with new buildings or other beauties. The architecture and view of the city change, but it preserves its beauty. This morning we were discussing the Baku White City project, and after that the city will be one of the most attractive cities in the area. But it's still a secret.

Mr. Fernand Donnet - I was also really impressed with the changes of Baku. Every time I notice improvement of roads, facilities and infrastructure. The country has a tremendous potential for developing this city, this area and it is a big responsibility for the authorities, because the number of hotels has been increasing quite sharply and very intensively during the past two years. And these hotels cannot survive if demand is not generated and this is a responsibility for the authorities not only to create the events but also facilitate the visits of guests and tourists here. Today, we were talking about the visa procedure, which is still quite uneasy for some tourists (The process is long, tough and takes three weeks).

For example, the Ukrainian market, where a few years ago the authorities decided to open the frontiers and this resulted in a 30-percent increase in the number of visitors. We can see Baku, Azerbaijan on CNN, the BBC, we can (see) the promotion of Azerbaijan worldwide. But if we cannot say to the people "Just come to visit us and it's easy", it will not work. This is needed to turn the country into a tourist destination."

Mr. Edwin Broers - The first time I came here I could take a visa from the airport, but now it took us three weeks. I can say that it really withholds foreigners from visiting the country. If you want to turn Baku into a tourist destination, then it would be better to simplify the visa procedure, as tourists would like to visit the countries not only for long holidays but also for weekends, two or three days.

Much should be done for visa facilitation. You are building a new airport, new infrastructure, so I think a lot of people will be willing to visit Azerbaijan, especially Baku, for its ancient architecture, modern architecture, which you cannot see in many European cities, and new grand projects.

Q.: What are your views over the prospects that you see for the development of the tourism sector in Azerbaijan? Are you optimistic about the future of this sector?

Mr. Fernand Donnet - Nowadays, with the crisis that we are facing we forecast exactly what will be in the future, but what I can say first is that with the Euro Song Contest 2012 we have seen that Baku can organize and manage well major events in a short period of time. You have a knowledge and capacity for this, you are able to create very big events and I am sure that in the business area it will work well. The thing is that the country's tourism potential at this time is not promoted so well abroad and is not strong enough. I think that Azerbaijan is a big and great place for the development of the tourism sector, as you have things to show to the world: your culture, architecture, landscape -- deserts, mountains and the sea, the cuisine - i.e. a number of things to show and promote (Azerbaijan is not yet recognized very well as a touristic destination. When talking with my friends, clients from Europe, and mentioning that we have hotels in Baku, people are not matching, because Baku is mostly seen as a business center for its oil and gas reserves. But I think Baku should focus on weekend holiday destination as a trend).

Baku has already become a financial hub for the region, and as Dubai, for example, started with oil, then turned into a business center and now it's a tourism destination. Now a lot of people travel to Dubai for the weekend, for shopping, etc. Why shouldn't it work here?

Mr. Edwin Broers - Obviously, oil and business in Baku is important, but in European press you can also see many articles about sporting life of the city, big events organized here. I know that you have strong volleyball clubs, and also football players. As for tourism, in reality Azerbaijan is building infrastructure, stadiums, etc., but now it's time to promote them and make people come here as well. The country needs to carry out marketing and PR of its resorts, so that Europeans would visit them.

Azerbaijan is now well on the way. It is a beautiful country and there are enough funds in the country to make things happen. You have big advantages in comparison with other developing European countries.

Q.: Wyndham Hotel Group incorporates different brands. Which brands do you plan to bring to Azerbaijan? Could you, please, tell us about your future activities in Azerbaijan?

Mr. Edwin Broers - We as Wyndham Hotel Group have Ramada and Days Hotel here, and in total we operate 15 hotel brands. At the moment I think we are at a good place in Azerbaijan with the properties that we have, so, at the moment we don't have any direct development projects in Azerbaijan. I think if there is any company well established to go to the mid-hotel market, then it's us. We see very high development indicators in Turkey, which is a very important global market. Once demand comes to Baku, then there will be more need for mid-market hotels as well. If there is low demand and a high number of hotel rooms, then the prices will go down, and if a five-star hotel is going down in prices, the mid-market will be badly affected. Now, there is an unbalanced hotel room inventory in Baku as 80-90 of the branded hotels here are five-star hotels.

In many countries in eastern and central Europe, we can observe that a first hotel market develops in the capital city, and the secondary cities come only after that. The same can be said about Azerbaijan. Strategically we were first based in Baku, and then local investors with whom we have partnership decided to build a hotel in Ganja. First, demand should be created in the regions, so that hotels would move to the regions.

Mr. Fernand Donnet - Sohphos Hotel SA is a 'white' management company; we have very strong commitment and development with Wyndham not only here in Baku, but also in other countries. But we are also ready and able to work with other brands and with unbranded hotels as well. I can say that we did our homework, and now we know the market, now we need and are ready to work in Baku.

At this moment many projects in Baku and Ganja have been built by our investors that we are trusting. The point is that without any feasibility study, market research, evaluation of demand and the need in regions, you cannot go to investors, as you need to prove your project.