Ramada Hotel presses ahead with its development plans
“We have 300 rooms in Ramada Plaza and 267 in Ramada Parc, with an occupancy rate of 30 - 40 per cent in Plaza and 45 - 50 per cent in Parc,” Daniel Ben Yehuda told Business Arena Magazine in an exclusive interview.
Ramada currently has 270 staff for its 567 rooms, but the hotels also own 11 function halls, with an occupancy rate of 60 - 80 per cent. Around 40 per cent of the total revenue is generated by its F&B and events sectors, according to Ben Yehuda .
Close to 80 per cent of the hotels' clients are corporate, while the rest are tourists. When asked about the effects of the crisis on four and five-star hotels, Daniel Ben Yehuda responded promptly: “I think today the stars have lost their relevance. Price is the most important thing nowadays, as five-star hotels are giving three-star prices just to get the business.”
He believes reducing prices in times of financial difficulty, which is the strategy of many of his competitors in the hotel market, will do more damage than good in the long term. With its expertise in the segment and its large size, providing the company with greater flexibility, Ramada has been able to reduce the impact of the crisis on its business. The Ramada manager believes these negative effects will start to fade at the end of this year, creating a more stable economic environment.
Daniel Ben Yehuda has definitely seen better times in the Romanian market. In 2004, when he first came to Romania, “the hotel market had more demand than supply and the economy was booming. Unfortunately, the situation now is the other way round.” In his view, hotels in the capital match the best standards of the international hotel market: “I would say that we are getting to be very good. The hotels in Bucharest are beautiful. They are modern and very accommodating, and their services are improving. With more exposure to internationally managed chains, our understanding of foreigners is getting much better.”
However, he could not say the same about the appeal of Bucharest to foreign tourists: “The town has to become more attractive, more has to be done, the public transportation needs to get better and most importantly we need to be better known for all the good things that can be done here. Seasonal festivals should be organized, which would attract visitors from all over Europe - such as flower shows or movie festivals.”
Meanwhile, his single goal as head of the Ramada team is to ensure the hotel emerges from the crisis as one of the strongest in Bucharest.
Ramada currently has 270 staff for its 567 rooms, but the hotels also own 11 function halls, with an occupancy rate of 60 - 80 per cent. Around 40 per cent of the total revenue is generated by its F&B and events sectors, according to Ben Yehuda .
Close to 80 per cent of the hotels' clients are corporate, while the rest are tourists. When asked about the effects of the crisis on four and five-star hotels, Daniel Ben Yehuda responded promptly: “I think today the stars have lost their relevance. Price is the most important thing nowadays, as five-star hotels are giving three-star prices just to get the business.”
He believes reducing prices in times of financial difficulty, which is the strategy of many of his competitors in the hotel market, will do more damage than good in the long term. With its expertise in the segment and its large size, providing the company with greater flexibility, Ramada has been able to reduce the impact of the crisis on its business. The Ramada manager believes these negative effects will start to fade at the end of this year, creating a more stable economic environment.
Daniel Ben Yehuda has definitely seen better times in the Romanian market. In 2004, when he first came to Romania, “the hotel market had more demand than supply and the economy was booming. Unfortunately, the situation now is the other way round.” In his view, hotels in the capital match the best standards of the international hotel market: “I would say that we are getting to be very good. The hotels in Bucharest are beautiful. They are modern and very accommodating, and their services are improving. With more exposure to internationally managed chains, our understanding of foreigners is getting much better.”
However, he could not say the same about the appeal of Bucharest to foreign tourists: “The town has to become more attractive, more has to be done, the public transportation needs to get better and most importantly we need to be better known for all the good things that can be done here. Seasonal festivals should be organized, which would attract visitors from all over Europe - such as flower shows or movie festivals.”
Meanwhile, his single goal as head of the Ramada team is to ensure the hotel emerges from the crisis as one of the strongest in Bucharest.
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