“I cannot do my job without the support of my GM, Frank Spielvogel,” says Carlos Sologuren, director of sales and marketing at Swissôtel Lima, Peru.
The hotel sees over 90% of its 345 rooms taken by business travelers, mostly on corporate accounts, and their average stay is three nights. Repeats run at an average 60%, with many corporate accounts’ bookings automatically repeated month after month. Loyalty is helped by such facilities as a comprehensive fitness center, and indoor and outdoor heated pools.
The hotel also has five restaurants, including La Fondue, where all the wood furnishings were brought from Switzerland. Guests appreciate, too, having a pre-flight to-go menu, labeled Gourmet Flight Box. This suggests four menus, with all-inclusive prices, namely Light, Standard and Vitality, all at US$17, and a US$20 Gourmet option, of fruit, roast beef sandwich, chocolate croissant, truffles and S. Pellegrino can (“typically about 35 are ordered every month,” he shared).
“Food plays an increasingly important role in what is becoming more of a competitive destination here in Lima. A wide range of dining options certainly helps boost guest loyalty,” said Sologuren, who moved to the hotel after 15 years in leisure-accounts management, including spells with two Lima-based Virtuoso travel agencies.
“I also headed heading American Express’ Luxury Travel Department in Peru. Having been on both sides of the table makes a huge difference. Now, as a hotelier, I understand what clients need, which is a big plus in an extremely competitive market. I know how to anticipate, and to act quickly, which is a major asset nowadays.”
He talks with Spielvogel, the general manager, at least three times a day, and they schedule weekly lunches. Industry-norm daily morning meetings, at 9 a.m., see all department heads gathered together. These are complemented by weekly marketing meetings, on Mondays and Thursdays, when Carlos Soluguren and his relevant 15 colleagues discuss strategy.
They look at least two or three years’ ahead, and although business changes incredibly fast he sticks to his stated discipline. “My goal is always to be well-informed and to strategize with built-in anticipation of all possible challenges, which could be described as having several Plans B up my sleeve,” he said.
Here is one example of a Plan B: The Brazil market to Peru fell dramatically as a result of troubles affecting Odebrecht, the Brazilian engineering and construction giant based in São Paulo, Brazil (Odebrecht’s Peru operations, headquartered next to the Swissôtel Lima, are shuttered, and former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his wife are In jail
“In September 2016, when the corruption scandals were already happening, our Brazilian market was down to 3.49, but I expect September 2017 to close at 5.33.% from Brazil,” Sologuren said, with satisfaction. As well as working harder on Brazil, his team has strengthened Mexico (he personally has made 10 trips there in the past year, taking business up from 2016’s 30% to an average 40% of guests this month).
“This month’s figures will also benefit from the general meeting of the International Olympics Committee, which, in Lima on September 13, ratified the granting of the 2024 Games to Paris and the 2028 Games to Los Angeles,” he explained. Although French President Emmanuel Macron had to pull out at the last minute, France’s powerful IOC delegation to the Peruvian capital included AccorHotels’ CEO Sébastien Bazin. “Since Swissôtel is now part of AccorHotels, the entire French group stayed with us, which promises to be a tremendous fillip for future business from France,” said Sologuren with a big smile – ever the savvy marketeer, he had of course found out what tempting nibbles to put in M. Bazin’s suite as an arrival amenity.