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Gostelow Report: Hilton GM taps Tirana’s global brand potential

“What an opportunity this is, to launch a global brand in virgin territory,” says Mike Walker, general manager of the 143-room Hilton Garden Inn Tirana, which opened in the Albanian capital on August 30.

Mike Walker stands on the grand staircase of Hilton Garden Inn Tirana's events area
Mike Walker stands on the grand staircase of Hilton Garden Inn Tirana’s events area

“Tirana is one of the last hidden gems of the Mediterranean – the sea is under half an hour away – but it has been something of a secret. Now, this city of over 2 million is desperate for modern hotels,” he declared. At the moment there is a well-established Austrian-managed Rogner, but Sheraton pulled out of what is now MAKtirana in January, because of differences with its Kuwaiti then-owners. And yet, accommodation is sorely needed: The whole of Albania, which only has a population of 2.9 million, recorded 5 million incoming visitors in 2017, the highest ever.

“There is so much business to be had. The Trans Adriatic Pipeline necessitates many international visits, as do mining and oil, and the millions of Albanian diaspora around the world who come back to see their families are renowned for throwing parties (in Albania, major birthdays are celebrated every five years). Walker expects a big demand for his two ballrooms, one holding 300 theater-style, 200 for banquets, the other 250 theater-style and 150 for banquets – “parents pay for weddings but all guests are expected to bring cash contributions,” he explained.

The eight-floor building was developed by local galvanizing giant Selmani Sh.p.k. Konstruksione Metalike, whose CEO, Ali Selmani, had always longed for a hotel, with elements of grandeur. He started talking to Hilton in 2014, and Hilton, in turn, found Walker, then GM of the Hilton Garden Inn in Luton, middle England. “We first talked in February 2016. They had heard my wife was Albanian and they thought I would be a natural. One challenge, however, was that she did not want to leave the U.K. Another was that although I have always loved traveling, I had not worked abroad.”

His now-boss, Alex Murray, Hilton’s vice president focused services hotel operations EMEA, persisted, and the package was one that he could not refuse. He arrived in Tirana in June 2017.

“From day one I looked at the business mix, working out that about 60% of revenue will come from rooms – which, by the way, have tea-coffee facilities and empty iceboxes that can be filled from a grab-and-go kiosk at reception. WiFi is free throughout the hotel, and fitness and business facilities are both 24/7”. There is an all-day restaurant offering local and international cuisine – “My F&B, a German national, has come from neighboring Kosovo, and he knows what marvelous products, including beers and wines, are available in the Balkans. The only slight challenge is beef,” admits Walker. The rest of his 60-strong team is Albanian, and like nearly everyone under 40 in Tirana, their English levels are high. People also want to please, said their GM.

Born in Hull, in northern England, Walker had aimed at law ever since he asked a teacher, when he was 7, how he would make the most money. At 14, however, he was boosting spending money pot-washing in his spare time, and while reading law at University of Hull he rented, and ran, a restaurant. After graduation he invested in expensive paralegal training but realized these were cases that did not interest him (“I hated the no-win no-fee personal injury side of it,”  he admitted).

He switched to Whitbread’s Premier Inns but jumped at the opportunity of joining a global brand, Hilton, in 2015. What comes now? “It is already rumored that Hyatt is coming and I do expect that in five years’ time Tirana will be recognized as a top European city with many globally recognized hotels,” he said in his invariably calm and unfussed way.

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