Azimut Hotels is booking regions – Newspaper Kommersant No. 8 (7453) dated 18.01.
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The departure of foreign hotel chains and the continuing difficulties for Russians with trips abroad encourage hoteliers to actively look for regions of presence within the country. Azimut Hotels Alexander Klyachin can build new hotels in Kabardino-Balkaria, Karelia and Altai, investing more than 10 billion rubles in total. Market participants call the selected locations successful, but warn that the implementation of projects is only expedient with state support, the situation with which is still unclear.
Azimut Development, controlled by Azimut Hotels Alexander Klyachin, has established three new structures for hotel projects, follows from the data Kartoteka.ru. Legal entities are registered in Tyrnyauz of Kabardino-Balkaria, in Iogach of the Altai Republic and in Karelian Sortavala. A representative of Gleden Invest (managing the assets of Mr. Klyachin) explained to Kommersant that the locations for new projects have been determined, but the concept is being worked out for each of them separately. The company will build hotels if the program of subsidizing loans for the creation of new hotels is launched. VEB.RF (the operator of the subsidy program) explained that they are working with Azimut Hotels and considering its projects for financing.
Azimut Hotels has been operating since 2006, now it manages almost 70 hotels and resorts with a total stock of about 12,000 rooms. The network estimated its revenue at the end of 2022 at 17 billion rubles, which is 21.4% more year-on-year.
Large Russian hotel brands are now building up their portfolio against the backdrop of the exit from the market of some global players, noted earlier consultants. The founder of Ivashkevich Hospitality Stanislav Ivashkevich calls the locations chosen for new projects by Azimut Hotels promising, as there is a shortage of accommodation facilities. Tyrnyauz is located 43 km from the Elbrus ski resort. Here, according to Mr. Ivashkevich, a large facility with 300-400 rooms with an investment of 5 billion rubles may be in demand. The general director of the Dolphin tour operator Sergey Romashkin calls the Elbrus region a popular tourist destination and a prestigious location for skiers. But a location in Tyrnyauz itself would be a bad idea due to its distance from the slope and the depressing appearance of the city, he said.
In Altai and Sortavala, according to Mr. Ivashkevich, we can talk about hotels with 150-200 rooms, each of which can cost 2.5-3 billion rubles. The main problem of these sites, as well as the Elbrus region, the expert considers pronounced seasonality and low demand during the off-season. According to him, it is possible to get out of the situation due to the presence of additional functions in hotels, such as spa centers. Mr. Romashkin speaks about the growing flow of tourists to Sortavala and Altai.
Kommersant’s interlocutor in the hotel market suggests that state or municipal structures may take part in new projects of Azimut Hotels: this is indicated by the choice of regions and the overall development strategy of the network. In his opinion, it is now difficult to implement large hotel projects without state-supported loans. “Banks offer mainly loans for ten years, but the payback of hotels at a cost of money of 5% is about 15 years,” explains the interlocutor of Kommersant.
The concessional lending program for domestic tourism development projects has been in place since 2021 and involves subsidizing interest rates on loans issued up to 3-5%. Initially, Rostourism was involved in the initial selection of projects, but at the end of 2022, the functions of the department were transferred to the Ministry of Economy. The ministry was supposed to carry out additional monitoring of more than 50 selected projects, but market participants have not yet received information about the results, says independent expert Alexei Kozhevnikov. The Ministry of Economy did not promptly respond to Kommersant.
Deputy Chairman of the Union of Tourism and Hospitality Roman Yeremyan suggests that the allocation of state support for new projects of Azimut Hotels may not lead to an additional tourist flow in selected locations. However, the expert calls this process “normal” for the market. According to him, in Sochi at first the situation developed similarly, but this made it possible to increase the overall level of service.
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