Turkish hotel chain Dedeman growing in Syria despite problems

Celebrating its 45th year in the market, the Dedeman Hotels chain aims to grow 19 percent this year.

The group has also announced it will open its fourth hotel in Syria by 2012, despite the ongoing turmoil and a drop in business.

It is meanwhile eyeing investments in Medina, Mecca, Iraq and former Soviet Union countriesTurkey’s Dedeman Hotels, which celebrated its 45th anniversary this week, is aiming to grow in both Turkey and the wider region despite recent problems, its chief executive has said.

The current uprising in Syria has affected the company’s businesses in that country but has caused no shift in further investment plans, Dedeman Hotels & Resorts Chief Executive Officer Tamer Yörükoğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News.

The situation in Syria did affect Dedeman’s branch in Syria, but the firm never thought of giving up on its investment decision in that country, Yörükoğlu said.

“Currently, we do not have full capacity in our Syria hotels, however, we continue with our projects and investments,” he said. The company’s hotels in the Syrian cities of Aleppo, Damascus, and Palmyra are operating at approximately 25 percent occupancy.
Dedeman also aims to open a new hotel in Latakia in 2013.

The current chaotic environment in the Middle East has triggered an increasing tourism trend in Turkey. “Tourists who were supposed to go to Middle Eastern countries now prefer Turkey,” said Yörükoğlu.

“We will still stick with our expansion strategy in the countries where Turkey has trade and economic relations. That’s why we will continue to open new branches in Iraq, Commonwealth of Independent States countries, Turkic republics and Saudi Arabia.”

Among these new investment plans, Dedeman has already completed its new hotel in Medina and will open the hotel by 2012.

“We are also aiming to expand our investments in countries such as Germany. In Germany our first aim is to establish ourselves in the cities that have a high Turkish-citizen population, such as Berlin,” Yörükoğlu said.

Dedeman currently has two hotels in Bulgaria and three in Syria; said with the hotel in Uzbekistan, the company has a total of six hotels abroad, Yörükoğlu said.

45 years in the hotel business

Dedeman also has an exclusive project for its 45th year in the business. The hotel chain aims to create a new sub-brand under the name of “Dedeman Park.”

This new project will be an economy hotel chain for business travelers. The new project will be based on a new system within which Dedeman will not charge its visitors for services they do not use. “There are some hotel chains in foreign countries that apply this system. However, no other hotel in Turkey applies this system. Dedeman will be the first hotel [group] that will apply it,” Yörükoğlu said.

“We are planning to launch Dedeman Park in foreign countries,” he added.

Dedeman aims to launch Dedeman Park first in countries of the former Soviet Union. “Kazakhstan and Moscow are the alternatives for this new project,” the executive said. “We are currently looking for a convenient property for this project.”

By the end of 2012, Dedeman aims to open three hotel concepts under the Dedeman Park name. Two will be in Turkey and one will be abroad.

“The first groundbreaking for a Dedeman Park concept hotel started in Denizli,” Yörükoğlu said, adding that the firm aims to open the hotel during the first months of 2012.

In the second half of 2011, Dedeman will open two hotels in the Turkish cities of Edirne and Zonguldak. Dedeman will also open its second hotel in Istanbul, on the Anatolian-side district Bostancı. The construction work for this hotel is still continuing, Yörükoğlu said.

“2010 was a good year for us, we reaped 125 million euros in turnover,” he added, noting that Dedeman aims to grow by 15 percent with 140 million euros in turnover.

The House Hotel chain aims to spread to 15 locations

The House Hotel chain has opened its third branch in Istanbul as part of a target to establish a total of 15 small hotels in the city by 2015.

The chain will open one more hotel by the end of this year, while it aims to reap 7 million euros in turnover with these three hotel investments, said Ferit Baltacıoğlu, The House Cafe and Apart chairman.

The great interest displayed in House Hotel branches in the city’s Galatasaray and Nişantaşı neighborhoods made the company decide to open the third branch, Baltacıoğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News. “Our main aim is to open more branches and reap 10 million to 15 million euros in turnover,” he said.

“This year we are hoping to reap total of 6 to 7 million euros in turnover with the new hotels in the Ortaköy district of Istanbul,” Baltacıoğlu added.

As the chain aims to expand its hotel investments to 15 different locations by 2015, it will also open its first foreign branches, in London and Amsterdam, in 2013, Baltacıoğlu said.

Currently, House Hotel is still in discussion for its new hotel project, which will be opened in the central Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. It also aims to open boutiques hotel in Maslak and Kanyon, where business traffic is busy.

June 10, 2011
SOURCE: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS