Setting higher goals for Marriott

“We are planning to invest around 1.1 million Euro next year in renovating the entire first floor of the JW Marriott hotel, which will include a new ballroom with new state-of-the-art techniques, while also renovating the Vienna Café and our famous Cupola restaurant, which is closed now and will be rebranded as a steak house,” he told Business Arena Magazine in an exclusive interview. “Also, in the long term, the Marriott chain is planning to open a new hotel, with 198 rooms, under the Courtyard brand, by the end of 2012.”
He added that the executive lounge and two more hotel floors will be renovated in the second half of 2010, bringing the total investment in renovations over the past year to approximately 1.5 million Euro.
Porecki also hopes to achieve a higher occupancy rate in 2010 and better financial results as compared to 2009. “We are hoping for 10-15 per cent higher turnover in 2010 than what we recorded this year,” the general manager explained, even though he expressed his satisfaction at having a “very good” occupancy rate in October this year, which was about 75 per cent. “But it's also true that the rates have changed, as clients are not willing to pay in 2009 the rates they paid in 2007-08. So we had 30 per cent less growth this year than in 2008.” Porecki added that around 85 per cent of Marriott's clients are business leaders, while the other 15 per cent are leisure clients.
The hotel management is expecting a decrease in the occupancy rate for December, especially in the second part of the month, despite the fact that they are already booked for many holiday parties.
Clients, whether they are business leaders or tourists, have high expectations, regardless of the services or entertainment Marriott provides them. “I've been in tourism for 36 years and what I still see as exciting is the fact that everyday you are hosting new guests from all over the world, each one with their own different expectations. We have to make sure they find everything in the hotel pleasant and comfortable, and more importantly we have to make sure they will visit us again. Working with people is a challenging but also exciting task,“ Porecki acknowledged.
Some problems in the Romanian tourism market still need to be overcome. For instance, the weakest point in Bucharest's tourism segment remains the lack of promotion of the city.  “The authorities are the ones which can really help in advertising and promoting Bucharest as a tourist destination, but they must establish an efficient strategy in order to do so. If the Government of Romania really wants to encourage tourism, it needs to invest more money in promoting Romania as a destination, not only through the media but also by bringing decision-makers to this country. Unfortunately, the hoteliers only have limited resources to improve the situation by themselves.”
A key point for increasing the weekend tourism in Bucharest, in his view, would be implementing new facilities for tourists, such as open sightseeing tour buses: “Every important city of Europe has this. Tourists come and ask us for city tours. Here at the JW Marriott hotel we do work with private companies which organize such tours, but they turn out to be more expensive than they would be if organized by the municipality.”
Even though there is still much to be improved in the capital with respect to tourism, Bucharest does earn points from the Marriott chief: “It's true that we hoteliers do not receive many complaints from tourists regarding important things such as their safety in the city, and Romania's Capital looks quite clean, friendly, and welcoming. I personally was impressed with how well everyone here speaks English. In other countries I've been to, this was a major challenge. Also, the restaurant segment is very well organized. Overall, I should say Bucharest only needs a bit of promotion.”
He furthermore believes in the domestic tourism potential, and in his assessment this will continue to grow. With additional help and involvement from the Romanian government, the country will secure for itself a well-deserved place on the worldwide tourism map. “What do I find challenging here at Marriott? Challenging everyday for me is to reach higher and meet the expectations of my three 'customers': the owners who invest millions of Euro in this property and want to see the return of their investment; the Marriott itself, the company, which has to perform according to its own expectations; and our 400-person team, our associates.”