EXCELSIOR HOTEL BAKU - FIVE STARS WITH A "PLUS"

First Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board, "AtaHolding", Mr. Hakan Ozalpay

Today, AtaHolding Group of Companies fulfills an activity almost in all segments of non-oil sector of Azerbaijan, particularly in the following fields like finance, industry, agriculture, construction, tourism, and service sectors. According to reports of worldwide famous auditory companies like Deloitte Touche and MRI, AtaHolding Group of Companies which consists of 17 companies with staff totalling more than a thousand persons is a structure having clarity and a high image and due to its urge for development it has its dominant place in the Azerbaijan economy. Famous companies in Azerbaijan like AtaBank, AtaInsurance, AtaLeasing, AtaIndustry, AtaConstruction, AtaTourism, AtaConsulting, AtaAudit, AtaTechnology, AtaSecurity and others are part of the structure of this Holding. Expansion in other fields has also been planned for AtaHolding this year. Which includes education and training not only in the professional sense (Ata Training Academy, IT Academy) but also for those very important students starting from primary, elementary, high school and University levels. One of the subdivisions of AtaHolding is AtaTourism which was established at the beginning of 2003, however, it could recommend itself as a serious business-partner in the market. First Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board, "AtaHolding", Mr. Hakan Ozalpay gave us information on the structure of AtaTourism and its activities.

AtaTourism subdivision is one of important discoveries in AtaHolding structure. How do you imagine to yourself the development of AtaTourism as a part of AtaHolding?

-In general as per the philosophy and strategy of our Holding. When developing new projects or implementing them our major priority is in the development of Azerbaijan as a whole, than comes our company and our employees. Therefore when we develop a project, a lot of input is made by our strategy team towards doing the best we can and to use the latest technologies of the world to be able to compete in the International market. We believe that if we can assist in the development of the nation this will also reflect on the development, expansion and operations of our company and will allow us to have a healthier future. We also believe in the development of all our employees and therefore have also established the Ata Training Academy which trains everybody from management to the lowest rank of our group of companies.

Coming back to AtaTourism and its development, when we first established the company we did a lot of research both in Baku and in the regions and than decided into which areas to develop and invest in. We decided to develop in three sectors of tourism. Presently we have a travel agency (Paragon Travel) a hotel (Excelsior Hotel Baku) and a hotel/restaurant supply company (Hotec International). All three are very important to the development of the country as well as the development of tourism. While establishing Paragon Travel we decided that we should do something different and to develop the market in health tourism, education tourism, convention and congress tourism and sports tourism, naturally not forgetting the importance of corporate travel. What can be more important than ones education and their health. We also have a fourth sector in our future plans which still needs development and that is the quality of service and hygiene. Therefore we have planned to open a Hotel Management School which will not only be a benefit for Azerbaijan but also for the other nearby countries in the CIS. This project we hope will be realized in 2006.

Speaking about tourism we should emphasize that one of the main AtaTourism projects in Azerbaijan is the new Excelsior Hotel Baku…

Yes, thank you for mentioning this. It is one of our major projects which has been completed and is now in operation. The official opening of the Excelsior Hotel Baku was on August 1st with the participation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev. While introducing the Hotel the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev emphasized the following: "Hotel was designed with perfect taste and love. This beautiful building decorates Azerbaijan both from architecture and presence of the most modern equipment point of view. We can say that Excelsior Hotel is one of leading hotels in Azerbaijan".

When developing this project a lot of effort and affection was put into this project. There was a lot of input from our different sectors including AtaHolding, AtaConstruction & AtaTourism. First we familiarized ourselves with the present hotel market and the need of qualitative services, the city architecture and the culture of the country. Together with the architects, interior designer, electrical and mechanical engineers a team was established and set forth to do something unique. We wanted to have an elegant property which is both classical in architecture as well as contemporary, we wanted to make sure that all areas are functional, we wanted to employ the latest technologies that a hotel would need in this period but not to disturb our guests visually, we wanted guests to feel that they were in Azerbaijan and not just another international hotel anywhere and last but not least we wanted to have a hotel not only to make our guests feel at home but to exceed their expectations and to make them feel special.

The decor imprint on the left side of the 50000 AZM note was used in the interior decoration of the hotel in the lobby and was also carried on to the uniforms of the staff. Emphasis was put on Azeri Art. The hotel has only used oil paintings of at least 30 famous Azeri artists. It is unique to see that the fifth floor corridor has been dedicated to the artist Saqit Mammadov. His paintings were also used in the Imperial Suite. Our hotel Cigar and cocktail bar is also dedicated to Azeri art. The name of the bar is the L'atlelier meaning an art workshop and displays pictures of young Azeri artists which are up for sale in their name. The hotel only takes a percentage of the sales which is directly donated to charity. We believe that art is an important factor in the development of any country and therefore support it.

We are pleased that we have been able to implement our desires and have received for this property a 5 star plus certification through the experts of the Ministry of Tourism, which makes us the only hotel in Azerbaijan or even in this region with such a certification. We are very much aware that this certification of the property is solely not enough to do what we are set forth to do and therefore have continuous training of all our staff to be able to perform to high standards with a friendly but disciplinary attitude. Almost all employees were hired 5-6 months prior to opening for this purpose.

What are the specialties and services of this new hotel?

- The Excelsior Hotel Baku is one of the most important projects of AtaTourism and one of the new landmarks of Baku. It combines traditions and innovations, modern luxury and a touch of antiquity. The hotel is furnished with a melange of classical architecture and contemporary design elements. Being conveniently located near the center of Baku, the Excelsior Hotel offers easy access to business, shopping and entertainment centers, while the Heydar Aliyev International Airport is only 20 minutes away.

In the construction of the Excelsior Hotel a total investment of $22,5 mln. US Dollars was made. All construction materials, operation equipment and decoration materials were obtained from Turkey, USA, France, Germany, Italy, and Belgium. The hotel consists of the Imperial Suite - 1 (350 sq.m.), Royal Suites - 2 (75 sq.m.), Crown Suites - 4 (60 sq.m.), Heritage Rooms - 45 (41 sq.m.), Duke Rooms - 9 (24 sq.m.). Rooms located on different floors have a colour scheme. The decoration of rooms located on the first floor are bordeaux, the rooms of the second floor are red, at the third floor they are lilac and at the fourth and fifth floors they are in blue.

All rooms are provided with individual climate control, electronic keys, electronic safes, IDD and digital dual line telephones, satellite TV, interactive TV (games, internet, pay TV), large screen plasma TV, spacious bathroom with separate shower & Jacuzzi (apart from Duke rooms), refreshment center (mini-bar), vanity unit with hairdryer & shaver socket, smoke & heat detector and sprinkler, bathroom phone, alarm clock, make up/shaving mirror, voicemail, CD player (suites), writing desk & seating area, bathrobes and terry slippers, dataport, daily newspapers, etc. This hotel was built in accordance to international standards of safety and security with sprinklers, heat & smoke detectors, fire resistant doors, etc. There are meeting rooms for conferences and social functions with a capacity of 10-300 persons, 24 hour business-center. Guests are provided with wireless internet-services, high-speed internet access, shipping and secretarial services. We have a fine dining restaurant, cigar & cocktail bar, 24 hour operated patisserie and a very large wellness center including massage and therapy rooms, relaxation rooms, steam rooms, saunas, lockers with bathrooms and showers, indoor pool & outdoor pool, outdoor children's pool, tennis court, squash courts, table tennis, indoor jogging track, fitness center and a very large facility for cardiovascular machines and other exercise equipment with trained coaches for private lessons. Also available are concierge services, 24-hour room service, manager on duty 24 hours, medical aid available 24 hours, laundry and dry cleaning, currency exchange, babysitting services (on request), express check-in & check-out. The 61 room hotel serves its guests with 220 professional staff.

I think that our hotel will positively contribute in the development of Azerbaijan tourism providing high quality services. The Excelsior Baku is a hotel of high caliber and competes with its counterparts worldwide. It has been nominated in several fields for the Golden Key Award such as best design hotel, best design room, best design suite, best design health center, and we hope that hotel will get new awards for Azerbaijan. The hotel has also applied to the association of the "Leading Hotels of the World" to become a one of their distinguished members.

How do you estimate AtaTourism activity from the tasks point of views were stood ahead of the company two years ago?

- Despite the fact that we opened the hotel a little later than planned it has come out as per our visions and we hope that it will operate with success.

As I mentioned before one of the main factors for a successful business is its well trained employees. Employees are a big asset for any company. To further develop tourism in Azerbaijan we have plans to open a Hotel Management School in affiliation with EUHOFA the International Association of Hotel Schools and other International hotel schools. We are aware that such a school does not exist in this region and I am sure that this school will not only serve Azerbaijan but I believe that it will also serve the whole region. It is important to emphasize quality services and hygiene. The school will also train employees for the other tourism fields such as restaurants, airlines and travel agencies.

Which tasks have you planned for AtaTourism & AtaHolding?

- Together with the Chair persons of each group of companies and our strategy team we have many projects to develop. Not only nationally but also in the International market. As you may have noticed when we do something we want to make sure that we can do it correctly and with high standards. Therefore all projects have to be planned. The theme of its concept, the availability of the infrastructure, the market, project feasibility, architectural projects, financing, etc. all have to be ready prior to going ahead. And I must say that this takes time.

Our company also is open to other foreign investments and partnerships, you may have noticed that our law firm (AtaConsulting) and audit company (AtaAudit) have become a partner of the American company Moores Rowland International. Our security company (AtaSecurity) is looking forward to a partnership with the German Security company Kotter to further develop its services and technologies.

Also to be able to develop our internal infrastructure of AtaHolding and our group of companies we have decided to implement ISO 9001-2000 standards and will make sure that our quality standards are continuous and without flaw.

Expansion is also one of our major strategies both locally and internationally. We presently have offices in several cities in Azerbaijan and will also open a branch office in Nakhchivan and Gabala. It is possible to say that Internationally we plan to open a representative of the Holding in Northern Cyprus in the nearest future. Brach offices is planned to be opened in Moscow, Istanbul and London. Presently we have a representative office in Georgia.