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Gostelow Report: A way of life at ForteVillage Resort

“Every year about August 15th is a watershed. We need to assess all permutations: How is this season going, what does the world look like, what elections are coming up, and then, by the end of the month, we need to have next year’s rates, ready for tour operators,” says Lorenzo Giannuzzi, CEO of ForteVillage Resort in Sardinia, Italy – and, it seems, the mayor of what is a sizeable community.

The 63-acre resort hosts eight unique hotels and villa collections, with 750 rooms total. It also houses, and very comfortably, 600 of the 1,200-strong workforce. Take into account that during August the resort runs at 100% occupancy (minimum stay five nights, but average is twice that), and nearly every room holds not only parents but one or two children, and we are talking about at least 1,500 people.

Lorenzo Giannuzzi on the job
Lorenzo Giannuzzi on the job

“Every year since I came back in 1995 the complex has expanded. Two years ago we added an outdoor arena that seats up to 5,000 – it’s great for MICE and car launches, and for special shows. Our 2017 summer season includes ‘Mamma Mia!’ and Charles Aznavour. This year we are upgrading wellness, which includes covering three of our six significant pools to extend the season through to December 10, 2017. We will re-open in the spring with a brand new aquapark”, he explained.

This winter, too, ForteVillage’s 25-student postgrad Master’s in Five Stars Hotel Management program will add a beverage component (the program, run with Rome’s Luiss University, is currently Eduniversal-ranked seventh worldwide – Cornell is tops).

As a kid in the south of Italy, Giannuzzi thought about following his father into medicine. He later veered to diplomacy and was studying political science at the University of Siena when a vacation break to visit his brother, who was working at Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, diverted him, without hesitation, to hospitality. His father was initially furious, but only wanting the best for his sons, sent Lorenzo to EHL Lausanne, after which his first job was, coincidentally, on the front desk of what is now ForteVillage Resort. During subsequent Forte postings, which included the Caribbean, he studied economics at Wharton, and as thanks for promoting the Russian market, he received an honorary degree from Moscow Tourism Academy. In 1995, as Forte’s MD Italy and Switzerland, he returned to ForteVillage, at that time Le Méridien.

“The resort was sold as standalone and we have had nine consecutive owners, but now we are stable, and I am one of two shareholders”, he explained. “In 1995 we had a total of five restaurants and now we have 21, plus bars and nightclubs, and, just added, one of Italy’s best chocolatiers, plus a Champagne emporium. We are half-board, and we pick up about 70% paying for lunch: Three restaurants, including one run by Gordon Ramsay, charge €105 (US$124) dinner supplements, per head, and they are always full.”

ForteVillage Resort is a way of life for many, generation after generation, worldwide. Every week a resort-branded 48-seat B737, first and business only, flies in from Moscow, with a Michelin-starred chef and a beautician onboard: overall, Russia-CIS is 20% of business, with 20% from U.K. and 27% domestic. Sixty-five percent are family groups.

“Forty-three percent of our guests are regulars, always wanting the same room; we do not need a loyalty program. We are like a private club but with the facilities of, say, the whole of Monaco. Our 13 tennis courts host their first tournament early March, to open the season, and run intermittently throughout the year as a way for the next Djokovic, Federer or Williams sisters to become known, and the €750,000 (US$886,000) overall prize is a big incentive”, said Giannuzzi, who plays with a pro most afternoons (he gets around the car-free estate by bicycle, and he is also ferocious on the professional-level go-kart circuit).

“Some would find mid-teen males the most challenging to excite but I think we have covered most angles”, declared the boss, citing celebrity-led academies offering chess as well as basketball, dance varieties, rugby, soccer – lessons in DJ-ing, magic and cooking. Visiting Michelin chefs and teams of medical leaders in Aquaforte spa, which has a unique six-pool thalasso circuit, are appreciated by the growing numbers wanting real food, a greater knowledge of nutrition, and help in detox and weight loss.

“Like any city or state we have tried a few developments in the past that turned out to be short-term. Now our plan, which looks up to five years ahead, is to make sure that everything we have is even better (we have just finished a €40 million upgrade of some bedrooms),” said Giannuzzi. “My short-term plan is more pressing. This year we raised average rates by €200 (US$236) over 2016, going up to €1,080 (US$1,276) this month. Now we do need to get 2018’s rates right.”

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