Mr. Boyadzhiev, what is the state of the hotel sector at the moment and how would you evaluate it in perspective?
In the last few years, the hotel industry has achieved very good results with the main driver in this direction being the growth of foreign tourist arrivals and the improved quality of services in the sector. The positive trend is supported by the improved macroeconomic climate in the country as well as by the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The good results are most evident in the BNB (Bulgarian National Bank) data, according to which the revenue from international tourism in the first quarter of the year has reached nearly 400 million euro.
Along with the country’s excellent performance in the tourism sector, cheap flights to and from Sofia have created an interesting phenomenon – cultural tourism in the urban environment. The city attracts more and more people from all over the world. Sofia guests are most often citizens of other European countries, but visitors from Asian countries come too. The dynamics in the sector have led to the need of new projects and serious renovation of the existing hotel facilities.
I expect the trend for the development of the hotel industry to keep its gradual increase which will make the business more profitable and will lead to more international presence.
Does the presence of recognized international brands influence the hotel market in Bulgaria and to what extent?
The entry of some of the largest hotel brands in Bulgaria such as InterContinental is important for customer satisfaction and attracting more solvent tourists. This has a positive impact on the image of the country and facilitates Bulgaria's recognition as an attractive destination. Tourists’ expectations for better value of services are exactly what the world's hotel brands rely on.
Our company has many years of experience in attracting international brands. The investment portfolio of Galaxy Investment Group over the years includes hotels operated under the name of well-known brands among which are the city hotels InterContinental Sofia, Hilton Sofia and Radisson Blu as well as the holiday hotel Barceló Royal Beach in Sunny Beach resort. These are high class assets with outstanding potential located in a dynamically developing hotel market.
How would you summarize the trends in modern city hotels?
I can confidently say that the hotel business accepts the integration of high technology extremely well. Examples of this are the introduction of smart applications, virtual reception and smart hotel room infrastructure which make the search, booking and service processes more intuitive and user-friendly.
On the other hand, the clients themselves are already more informed, have easy access to a large amount of information and are active participants in the hotel services market which favours the functioning of the sector as a whole.
Source: The City Magazine