EASY Group founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou is coming to the rescue of the ailing Cyprus hotel industry by offering franchises to local hoteliers for his easyHotel brand.
Since easyHotels first placed an advertisement in the local press on Sunday, it has received 17 enquiries, Marios Missirlis, the spokesman for the chain in Cyprus said yesterday.
In the advertisement, Haji-Ioannou announces that he is looking for business partners for the expansion of easyHotels in Cyprus and calls those interested to a presentation in Limassol later this month on how the franchising works.
EasyHotels’ new CEO, Lawrence Alexander, will be giving the presentation, Missirlis said.
“This is an opportunity to expand the brand,” he said. “We are now expanding rapidly. There are two hotels, one in London and one in Switzerland. Another two will open in London by the end of this year and we have signed contracts with a Dubai-based firm to open 38 easyhotels over the next five years in North Africa, the Middle East, India and Pakistan.”
The construction cost of the 38 hotels will amount to $400 million.
The first easyHotel opened in August 2005 in Kensington, London; the hotel, a test-bed for future developments, is owned and operated by the company. Prices start from £30 sterling a night.
Missirlis said that the easyHotels expansion to Cyprus would depend on the feedback received during the presentation. “We don’t really have a number between one and ten. It depends on the market actually,” he said.
“The interest has been tremendous. So far, 17 establishments, either apartments or one or two or three star hotels have expressed their interest, so I think the event will be a success.”
Missirlis said four and five star hotels would not be the type of establishment the easyHotel brand would be looking at.
According to the company, the easyHotels concept is ideally suited for smaller hotels – anywhere between 25 and 75 rooms, but considers 35 – 40 as the ideal.
“The hotel brand is a low budget,” Missirlis said, adding, however, that the criteria included safe and clean locations. Other than that, the brand would not be focusing on particular geographical areas. “All areas are being considered,” he added.
He also said the hotels that fulfilled the criteria would be responsible for the renovations necessary to convert the hotels to the easyHotel specifications.
“EasyHotel will not do any investment. The investment is in our brand,” he said.
The easyHotels move is being supported by the Hoteliers’ Association (PASYXE), whose chairman Haris Loizides yesterday said the development was very welcome.
“I don’t know whether they have identified any properties yet. It’s just an introduction at the moment,” he said. “We certainly welcome it. Any kind of new concept that comes on the market is welcome and this is coming at a time when hoteliers are in very bad shape – this is obvious from the number of calls they [easyHotels] have received.”
Loizides said that while the advent of easyHotels in Cyprus would be a boon to the industry, it had to be supported by easyJet flights.
Low-cost no-frills easyJet was the first company Haji-Ioannou created in the Group.
“At the moment it’s more important for easyJet to fly into Cyprus than for easyHotels to open in Cyprus,” said Loizides. “This is how we look at it. We are in desperate need for extra flights.”
The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) said yesterday it was not aware of the move but said it sounded promising.
CTO’s Director of Tourism Lefkos Phylactides said any expansion of a foreign franchise to Cyprus opened up new markets and new possibilities.
“Whether it’s Meridien or Hilton International, or any other franchise company, the local franchise has recourse to marketing sources abroad and this generally tends to be beneficial for the destination,” he said.
He said easyHotels would be a very useful concept in city centres and for people who visit for business purposes and spend a night or two.
“But if a family of four is coming to spend a week or two in a destination, I think the size of the room, the amenities and facilities would be taken into account,” he said, dismissing the possibility that a large expansion of easyHotels would change the Cyprus hotel landscape.
He also echoed Loizides’ hope that the ‘easy’ brand would not be limited to hotels.
“The accommodation sector will not really on its own bring that additional traffic,” said Phylactides. “I would hope it would be combined with easyCruises from Cyprus or with the airline, so that we can combine a competitive air fare with a competitive overnight.”
The CTO is believed to be working with the government to provide the incentives for easyJet and another two low-cost European carriers to fly into Cyprus.
The franchise deal
The Brand
You will operate under the name easyHotel.com – a brand recognized and respected by a wide range of customers. Although our brand is growing, it’s values remain the same, no frills, value for money, always fun, and available to all.
The Building
Whatever the age, size, condition of your building, our innovative approach to space management will enable you to increase the number of rooms you offer, you can utilize that space that has been a lazy asset into your revenue earning space.
The design of our rooms is unique, it combines aesthetics with durable long lasting materials, which are almost free of maintenance costs.
The Customers
Will book on line, all customers will benefit from our pricing logistics and yield management system, enabling them to request and book our different room types confident in the knowledge they are getting a consistent room product, well located, safe and secure, and in the best location the money can buy.
The Operation
We will provide training for you and your employees, you will get a design and technical specification manual as well as an operations manual as reference books.
We will share with you the benefit of customer feedback via our on line helpdesk, and our Quality Assurance Audits.
The Benefits
Are equally shared by you and the customer, our innovative approach to materials and management drive efficiencies in the operation whilst fulfilling the customers expectations.
