Doubletree by Hilton Varna Manager Claudio Sturm: Bulgaria's Tourism Industry Needs Leadership

Claudio Sturm, the manager of the Doubletree by Hilton Varna, presents the new Hilton-brand hotel, which is in a pre-opening phase, and is located in the top Bulgarian Black Sea resort Golden Sands. Photo by Emiliyan Frenchev

Interview with Claudio Sturm, General Manager of the Doubletree by Hilton Varna Hotel.

Detailed information about the first Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Bulgaria, which is currently in a pre-opening phase, READ HERE

With one or two exceptions, the Doubletree by Hilton Varna is practically the first five-star global luxury brand on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. What are the challenges for this business project?

I think it’s a great opportunity. One aspect is to have the international brand available on the Black Sea coast. Another aspect of this business project is giving a great opportunity to the people who are aiming to work for an international property.

What is more, from my perspective, in the long run brands will be the key to success. Consumption will be increasingly driven by brands. I am firmly convinced it makes a lot of sense to open a Doubletree by Hilton hotel on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

You’ve been involved with the management of the Hilton in Sofia. How management of the Doubletree by Hilton Varna and the Hilton Varna, which is planned to be opened in 2011, going to be different?

It’s a different business mix. That’s the only difference. The product’s hardware is the same.

We will probably have slightly fewer meeting conferences here, and we will have more holiday makers but the bottom line is that it is basically the same because it’s all about hospitality, people, friendliness; it doesn’t matter if you are a business hotel, or a resort hotel, it takes the same effort and approaches.

Why do you think there has been very little penetration of a firmly established global luxury hotel chains on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast?

Because, there had not been the right time to do this. All the international brands want to grow – they are interested in investing and exploring developing markets and Bulgaria for sure is one.

I remember when I came to Bulgaria back in 2000, I think the Robinson Club was in the south of the Black Sea coast. In the long term this is the right decision. Here you have a pretty good infrastructure.

With Kempinski, you had one international brand. People ask me why it did not work out. Well, with all due respect, Kempinski is a well-known German brand, well established on the German market but it does not have the global network that, for example, the Hilton has.

Building upon that – how would you summarize the advantages of the Doubletree brand of the Hilton family?

Well, Doubletree is about hospitality as symbolized by the cookie. Just to make it different. Some people might not recognize the name Doubletree right away but it is carrying the Hilton brand with it.

Why did you pick this specific brand of the Hilton portfolio?

Because as you know this is a conversion of a hotel so in order to convert a hotel you have to meet certain requirements. Doubletree is more designed for meeting casual and business travelers and this was the best setup – to have the Doubletree here, and to have the Hilton Varna as a combination. Because the specification for Hilton is slightly different than for Doubletree.

What does it take to make such a conversion of a hotel work? Is it just a matter of pouring money into it?

No, I think it is a matter of infrastructure. For example, a Hilton Hotel has to have the executive floor concept – so the question is how in a conversion do you create an executive floor? Executive floors are more designed for corporate travelers with more meeting space. Therefore, I think it was more appropriate here to have the Doubletree Varna than converting this one into a Hilton.

You are re-branding as the economic crisis is still going on. How do you expect this is going to play out?

My expectation is that this year we will have at least a slight upsurge, so the market is recovering slowly and I think next year the figures will go back to a normal demand level. It will take some time for us to become established within the Doubletree network but once it is up and running I think it will get international traffic.

There will be openings of other Doubletree hotels in Russia, Turkey, elsewhere in Europe. What effect will those have on the Doubletree Varna?

These are the growing markets from the franchising perspective and I think it will help us a lot.

How exactly?

Cross-exposure. For example, Hilton was one of the last global brands to enter the Russian market. And now with the Doubletree they are creating awareness, having exposure, and increasing the knowledge of the people that there is a Hilton, a Doubletree.

You are pretty familiar with hotel management in Bulgaria on such a high-level. How do you evaluate the situation in Bulgaria in that respect?

The pluses are that it is a great opportunity to be an international brand in a resort like the Golden Sands. The second challenge is the software – to have consistency, to have a well trained staff, etc, and this is the difference if you are working in a year-round business hotel or a resort hotel.

You will see that you have young talent in Bulgaria, you have people who want to develop their skills, who have to be developed and who need certain leaders who understand how this works.

You can have the best hotel in the world but if the software is not appropriate it doesn’t work. Back in 2005-6, the Hilton Sofia was awarded for being the best business hotel of Hilton. This was carried out by Bulgarians, so everything is possible, you have to have a team, people who love and understand hotel management.

What do you think of the quality of the labor resources in Bulgaria in this field?

People are available. I would say they are lacking leadership and training skills. Why is it like this? Unfortunately, the managers doing the supervision lack the skills. It’s about people, feelings, emotions, and people can only deliver good service if you train them.

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