Design Courier

Between emerging markets and novel hospitality models, everyone is looking for “the experience”. The terms of contemporary hospitality explained by VOIHotels

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The twenty-eight structures that form the portfolio of VOIHotels, Alpitour Group’s hospitality division, are located in some of the most evocative corners of Italy, and not only. Beyond the individual cultural and territorial peculiarities, there is an element that unites them: the experience. The model of hospitality offered by VOIHotels aims to leave the customer not only a personal memory, but also a piece of the territory to take home. At a moment in history when the term “experience” is perhaps inflated and almost discounted, Angelo La Riccia, the Commercial and Marketing Director of VOIHotels offers a new definition, not at all obvious. As Angelo explains in this extensive interview is not only a matter of marketing strategy, but also of creation of a true and sincere bond with local communities.

Hotel Ca' di Dio, Venezia, Italy, VOIHotels <br />Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Hotel Ca' di Dio, Venezia, Italy, VOIHotels
Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Atlantis Bay, Taormina, Italy, VOIHotels <br />Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Atlantis Bay, Taormina, Italy, VOIHotels
Image copyright: @VOIHotels

Your career in tourism began in 1995. What has changed in the way of travelling and in the traveller in these twenty-eight years? 

Everything has changed. However, I would say that there are two specific elements that dictated this change. The first is, of course, the advent of the internet. It has revolutionized the world of tourism in terms of communication, purchasing, marketing and distribution. When I started my career in 1995, selling and advertising were all on TV. The other important factor is the birth of the low cost, which has allowed a more wide range of people to travel. Today, everything is more accessible, people arrive on site already prepared and informed, and for this reason they are also more demanding. It is difficult to plan a trip, especially in the medium or long distance, without having previously watched videos or been documented. The travel agent is a figure that we find less and less, as well as catalogs. Therefore, these were the two biggest turning points of the last thirty years.

Your role involves identifying new market segments. What are the most interesting segments today? 

As the group’s Marketing Director, I observe with a keen eye the younger generations, their way of getting informed, booking and traveling. This is fundamental to understanding the future trends and the direction in which the sector is moving, also because today’s young people will be the rich of tomorrow. Today a young man of twenty years has limited possibility to travel, especially as a student, but in not many years will be part of the new class of workers and high-end travelers. Therefore, thanks to profiling tools, we can begin to analyze this target ahead of time.

 Speaking of markets, one of the most interesting is the Middle East. While the UK and US are important and mature markets, the future is somewhere else. In the Middle East young people are changing the approach and organization of countries. Another hot topic is that of India, now listed among the markets with the greatest growth prospects due to the many millionaires from this country. Finally, looking at the 2023 figures, the most surprisingly interesting markets have been Brazil and Australia.

Cala Cuncheddi, Capo Ceraso, Italy, VOIHotels <br />Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Cala Cuncheddi, Capo Ceraso, Italy, VOIHotels
Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Hotel Tornabuoni, Firenze, Italy, VOIHotels <br />Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Hotel Tornabuoni, Firenze, Italy, VOIHotels
Image copyright: @VOIHotels

Wanting to take a radiography of Italian tourism at the present state, what are the lines that define it? And in which directions are they going? 

In Italy there is a fragmented offer. This means that there are many hotels owned by individuals or families. This is especially true for the part of the Romagna and Tyrrhenian Riviera, where we see this peculiar setting of hotels’ rows, one behind the other. A positive fact is that the trend is shifting more and more towards aggregation, both in the sense of affiliation of major international chains, both in the sense of development of Italian chains for associations. What drives such movements is always a commercial interest: the individual hotel joins a chain, a group or a consortium to have support in communication and marketing. In my opinion, the trend is positive because it will lead to a higher level of professionalism.

Speaking of investments, what is the state of health of the Italian market today? What are the territories and types of structures to look at with greater interest? 

The Italian market is a healthy market, but it still has significant unexpressed potential. However, certain differences and underscores must be made. Speaking of cities of art, and therefore of the Venice-Milan-Rome-Florence backbone, these are already well-established cities from the point of view of hospitality. An interesting paradox of this sector concerns Rome, where there is a pipeline of luxury hotels being opened but which nevertheless has a minor presence of international chains than in Milan. While these cities are a certainty, they are difficult to enter due to the lack of new buildings to be taken over or land to build on.

 A market with great potential in terms of development is the seaside. The perspective I see is linked to progress as a public and private system. Public in the sense of strengthening the transports that allow to reach the localities, private in the sense of promoting off-season tourism. Joining the two forces, if they increase direct flights to Sicily and Sardinia in the summer months and leave open activities, art, history, culture and gastronomy will become accessible all year round in these territories. Something similar is already happening. For example, some international chains like Mandarin Oriental have started branding existing hotels in Italian southern locations.

The most recent data show that investment in the hotel sector has stalled due to the gradual rise in interest rates. What strategies should be put in place to develop the business despite this waiting phase? 

The slowdown is due to the fact that, during the pandemic, property prices have inevitably increased. At the same time, however, an alternative hospitality has developed, made of luxury hostels, rental villas and apartments in the city center. The common element of these structures is the demand for high-level services, typical of high-end hospitality, although the structure itself differs in terms of architecture and design. Personally I give a positive reading also of such tendency, as it enriches the offer, improves the competitiveness and it offers ideas of improvement to the suppliers.

Hotel Tornabuoni, Firenze, Italy, VOIHotels <br />Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Hotel Tornabuoni, Firenze, Italy, VOIHotels
Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Hotel Tornabuoni, Firenze, Italy, VOIHotels <br />Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Hotel Tornabuoni, Firenze, Italy, VOIHotels
Image copyright: @VOIHotels

Alongside the traditional hotel, there is growing appreciation for residential models, the so-called short rental. How do you explain this trend of hybridization between between home and hotel?

The need for distance emerged in the post-pandemic phase has facilitated the trend of short rentals. What is most interesting at the moment is to understand the possibilities of development of this business model and the potential for profitability. By comparison, in a traditional hotel comprising a hundred rooms I can implement different economic strategies, while the short rental is inevitably placed in the luxury-upper upscale target, where the price repays the auxiliary services offered by these facilities.

Another trend in the hotel ndustry is the search for th experience. What are the experiences that VOIHotels offers?

The philosophy of VOIHotels is to make the guest live the territory in which the hotel is inserted. A hotel beautiful for its own sake works up to a point. Our structures are located in places rich in history and culture and for this reason most of the experiences we offer are in partnership with the territory. A banal but particular example is the possibility to rent an electric car to visit independently the areas surrounding the village of Modica.

 Another experience I would like to mention is the Botanical Tour in Venice, a boat tour to discover corners, scents, plants and unique spaces of the lagoon. The same aromas are then found in the culinary journey at VERO, Venetian Roots, the restaurant of the hotel Ca di Dio. Thus, the customer lives the hotel in the territory. From my point of view the concept of having a particular experience through which communicating the hotel is a plus. Paradoxically, at VOIHotels the experience comes first: it is a way of thinking different from the classic package.

Mazzarò Sea Palace, Taormina, Italy, VOIHotels <br />Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Mazzarò Sea Palace, Taormina, Italy, VOIHotels
Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Mazzarò Sea Palace, Taormina, Italy, VOIHotels <br />Image copyright: @VOIHotels
Mazzarò Sea Palace, Taormina, Italy, VOIHotels
Image copyright: @VOIHotels

Sustainability and social responsability are among the values that define the identity of VOIHotels. In what actions do they translate at a practical level?

As a hotel chain, we have long been putting sustainability first. What remains crucial is consistency and transparency. Sustainability cannot be just a facade or a simple marketing operation. Speaking of facts, VOIHotels has eliminated from its facilities disposable plastic, uses electric machines, is committed to the recycling of waste oils and has started a partnership with Treedom, an Italian company that allows the planting of trees at a distance in favor of forestation. Sustainability for us also means relationships with the territory, both in Italy and abroad. In our hotels there is a close relationship with local communities: in Zanzibar, for example, one day a week the doctor of the structure is also available to the villagers.

What other elements define the offer of VOIHotels?

A central value for us is what we now call the human factor. Within the company we put training first and already during the interview we aim to make future employees and collaborators love the company. This means that they must embrace the philosophy, the vision, the sustainability values. For our part, we propose career paths. 

Angelo La Riccia <br/> Commercial and Marketing Director of VOIHotels
Angelo La Riccia
Commercial and Marketing Director of VOIHotels
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