“We are in the middle of the process, things are going well, we have several interested parties”: this is how Laura Meyer, CEO Hotelplan Group, responds to the question about the current status of the sales process. But she does not name the possible candidates in a funny way “Summer Talk” from the financial portal finews.ch.
Dominik Buholzer, editor-in-chief and interviewer of Finews, questions the Hotelplan director about the days of the sale decision and asks her whether she did not think it possible that Migros wanted to sell Hotelplan. Laura Meyer says diplomatically: “It was the owner’s decision. My job is to do the best for the Hotelplan Group. Migros has always been convinced that there are better owners with whom we can develop even better, also abroad. The process is not optimised for the purchase price, but rather for the positive development of the Hotelplan Group, “this is an opportunity for us”.
Investment plans unchanged
Regarding the mood of the employees, he says: “We have been actively communicating and continuously updating our employees. We said from the beginning that we would continue, that we would be successful and that nothing would change in our strategy, not even in terms of investment themes, whether it’s branch renovations or investments in digital skills.” This way, people would see, OK, things are moving forward, the management is motivated and we are sticking together. The employees are resilient and committed and do not let themselves be diverted from their path.
The current travel year is going well, it is higher than last year and even higher than 2019. She talks about the shift in bookings towards spring and autumn, the strong business with the north. Laura Meyer mentions Montenegro as another trend destination; tours with authentic experiences are also in demand, as are business and leisure trips, such as a weekend added to a business trip. “Already 40 percent of our customers, to whom we offer advice and information in the travel agency, are willing to pay a premium for sustainable aviation fuel,” she says, quantifying their current willingness to travel more sustainably.
Persistent desire to travel
It is also clear from this discussion that Swiss travel agencies have a major advantage: the constant desire to travel and the willingness to spend money on trips. “We Swiss love to travel, we spend a lot of money and we are individualists.” Everyone wants the trip to be perfectly tailored, “we see that in the recommendations too.” The Swiss have a higher travel budget than others and go to more exotic destinations “because they have more travel experience and are good with foreign languages.”
And there they would allow themselves more, better wine, a massage, a front-row beach, and the Swiss are popular because they are perceived as polite, clean and quiet. “We always find good hotel rooms for the Swiss,” says the director of Hotelplan, and also reveals where she spent her summer holidays with her family: in Albania.