The FINANCIAL — According to Tamuna Guledani, Director of Sales and Marketing Department of Sheraton Metechi Palace, Political instabilities have been influencing the Sheraton as well as the financial crisis and general decline of businesses in Georgia.
The FINANCIAL interviewed Tamuna Guledani to find out about the current situation at the Sheraton and define the main aspects that are affecting the hotel business in Georgia.
Q. Sheraton Metechi Palace is something like Tbilisi’s business card. Since Georgia’s independence it has been associated with wellness and quality presenting the comparatively tiny country to travellers of the world. How difficult is it to preserve such an image and tradition?
A. One of the central forces in preserving the image that we have is the Sheraton brand itself, which entails not only comfort for the people but also Warm, Community and Connection. This is Sheraton’s main characteristic. All of the above mentioned is also very close to Georgian traditions that say you should give out all of your warmth to guests. You shouldn’t only make a person feel comfortable but should also create a link and connect them to your world.
With our traditions we manage to create a synthesis of 5 star service and Georgian hospitality. For our brand global connections and comfort are necessary attributes. Our guests feel like they are at home. Hospitality and warmth is typical for the Georgian people and it’s suitable for our brand too. Our guests are delighted with the experience and always come back to us.
Q. Sheraton Metechi Palace is traditionally a place of different business events, trade exhibitions and so on. Have there been cases of cancelling conferences and meetings since the August war in Georgia? What kind of expectations do you have for the second part of 2009 and 2010?
A. After the August war many meetings have been delayed or have changed format, only the most necessary ones have not been cancelled. The similar happened this Spring the political situation significantly affect the major events that should be held in our hotel. And it’s worth mentioning, that the activity of our business clients has declined quite a bit.
Cutting travel budgets started throughout the world in the third quarter of 2008. August events have been added to this has toughened situation. All this problems existed in the country influenced tourists to stop visiting Georgia.
Despite of political tense situation in Georgia on Spring 2009, I still think in September it should change to the positive. I can’t say for sure what kind of circumstances there will be in the Sheraton. We have some plans and tangible goals, but as we know new competition is appearing on the local market and the Sheraton will have to face new challenges, which I hope will become another achievement for us.
Q. We heard from many travellers that the prices at Georgian hotels are much too high compared to hotels in Europe. Do you agree with such claims?
A. I agree that there are high prices in Georgian hotels. Competition was not strong enough I suppose. Competition controls the prices. In 2003 the average price of a international hotel ranged from USD 125 to USD 145 and prices at guest houses were from USD 50-80. The following year the market grew and there were months in 2006 and 2007 when we had no places at our hotel. Then we had to ask different hotels on the local market to host our guest for a while.
Q. After the Radisson Hotel opens what will you do about the flexibility of prices?
A. We will manipulate our prices more. This doesn’t mean that the prices are going to decrease dramatically, but with the prices that we have, with our services, accommodation and benefits we will make staying at our hotel more preferable than at our competitors’ hotels.
Q. What kind of facilities does the Sheraton Metekhi Hotel provide?
A. We have a very flexible means of managing the space inside and outside the hotel. One of it is conference and Bancroft facilities. For example a client can arrange a meeting or do a presentation on the 10th floor with the unique view, or can opt for a closed space with 500 people in the ballroom. The client can even choose to hold private function at poolside if they wish.
The kitchen of the Sheraton is also very flexible because we need to do different things in terms of international scales. The menu is always changing depending on the season. There’s a wide choice of food at our hotel. It is possible to have a Lebanese cuisine Bavarian bear fest, Argentinean barbeque or healthy salad assortment on the summer season.
We can also organize a wedding for 400 people and provide tradition al food of superb quality .with the best food.
Q. Where and how do you promote the Sheraton?
A. The brand itself Starwood Hotels & Resorts is responsible for marketing the hotel abroad. We are a member of a big family of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. There are special weekend rates, special summer promotions; there is also promotion with the help of the internet in partnership with all international air companies that fly to Georgia. Promotion is implemented with exciting Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) programmes which is a winner of 11 Freddie awards.
Q. We have noticed that the Sheraton is included in the Starwood Preferred Guest Programme, Category 4. That means 10,000 Starpoints for a free night. Please give us more detailed information about it?
A. SPG points are unique benefit you may spend on completely different services, started from booking free room at 1 thousand hotels worldwide, without blackout days to free spa services or inn room breakfast.
Sometimes our clients stay for up to a week paying for their rooms, their lunch or massage, all with SPG.
Q. Why should foreign tourists visit Georgia, what is remarkable about this country?
A. Many things are remarkable about Georgia. There is diverse nature in Georgia. We have great architectural monuments; different cultural tours are available in Georgia like wine tours and adventure tours. Without a doubt it’s interesting for tourists to visit Georgia.
In one country you can go both skiing and swimming in the sea. The problem is that we don’t have enough developed infrastructure, however the process of development has already started. Another problem is air tickets to Georgia and their high prices, which sometimes make tourists choose different countries to visit. High prices are always a step back for tourists.
Q. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union Georgia lost loyal tourists from Russia and other post soviet Communist countries. There were expectations that Europe would compensate such loss, but now we see that the reality is far from this. Do you think that Georgia should return to focusing on the post Soviet market?
A. First of all in my view this wasn’t Russia, but visa free travel for 275 million people from USSR. The Soviet Union was one big space where people could travel to Soviet Union member countries anytime they wanted. They actually had no other choice, they weren’t able to travel to any other countries and that’s why they visited the countries of the Soviet Union.
Russians visited the Georgian seaside because they had very limited possibilities to go to Italy, Spain and so on. Europe wasn’t able to compensate for our loss because it’s not a closed country where people are compelled to go to a limited number of destinations. The second, there has always been instability in Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union; civil war, local political problems for several years have spread fear in foreign tourists.
Q. How do you see Georgia’s image as a tourist destination developing in the future?
A. It depends on us. What kind of country do we want to show to others. We may show them the mountains of Tusheti, Mkinvartsveri and Gergeti or the sea resorts. One of the most important things is keeping stability in the country.
Q. In July Starwood Hotel and Resorts Worldwide Inc. reported more second quarter income than was expected. But travel professionals claim the number of tourists worldwide is decreasing dramatically. It seems that the Starwood business is crisis proof. What can you tell us about it?
A. The peak of the crisis seems to be finishing. There was a time when organizations completely forbid travelling and were holding conferences by phone, but now I hope that time has come to an end. Starwood is one of the most reliable companies in the global hotel business. It has numerous brands and controls different niches and segments of travel business. The more brands you have, the better your chances of getting bigger share on the market.
Written By Tako Khelaia
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