According to István Tiborcz, the tourism of Budapest, which is still an underrated destination, should be placed on a higher shelf.
After the opening of the Dorothea Hotel, the owner and president of the BDPST Group also talked about how they can achieve a high level of service so that Airbnb apartment owners do not cheat their guests. We discussed the monument protection debate accompanying the Vörösmarty square investment, and also where István Tiborcz would be today if he were not the prime minister's son-in-law.
"To be one of the best not only in Budapest, but also in the whole of Central and Eastern Europe, this is our goal with the hotel that has just been handed over since we embarked on the development"
István Tiborcz, the majority owner and chairman of the board of BDPST Group, told Index at the opening of the Dorothea Hotel on Vörösmarty tér in Budapest on Monday. The 216-room, five-star hotel was created as part of a 35,000-square-meter, multifunctional development project. According to István Tiborcz, in terms of location and services, they will start as a top participant in the Budapest hotel market, which is greatly contributed to by the fact that in addition to the event hall and spa, the hotel will also house four restaurants, two of which will open next year, the three-Michelin-starred Spanish will be operated by chef Dani Garcia.
Later, 28 exclusive apartments will also be handed over in the building block. "It's true that the contract hasn't been signed yet, but I can predict that we will also bring an entertainment venue connected to a well-known international brand under the roof in the building complex," the businessman said in advance. He summarized the project by saying that they planned not just a hotel where guests stay and leave the next day, but a complex that, in addition to the function of a hotel, will also function as an important scene of community life as the new center of the capital. "I really believe in strong, existing brands," he said, since the hotel is operated by Marriott International under the Autograph Collection brand.
István Tiborcz responded to our suggestion that there are luxury apartments on the Airbnb market that are a real alternative, or more precisely, a potential attraction for the public of five-star hotels. "You can buy exclusive apartments for the short term, but you have to go to a hotel for high-quality service, that's the difference. That is why the key to today's competition for guests is to be found in the high-quality service palette, which determines the direction of complex developments."
Regarding the utilization of the 28 luxury apartments created in the former Mahart headquarters, the CEO of BDPST Group said: they are not put on the market, there is no purpose of selling them, they are kept under own management and intended for sale
– under the Botaniq Collection brand. To the question of how many Hungarian guests are expected, István Tiborcz answered that "foreigners stay in the majority of hotels in Budapest, there is nothing extraordinary about it, it will probably not be any different here, just as the target audience of luxury apartments is primarily an international clientele".
At the same time, he formulated it as a kind of Covid lesson that a hotel can only be successful if it can also reach Hungarian guests. Building on the attractiveness of the restaurants, bars and the future entertainment venue, they can appeal to the people of Budapest and the domestic audience as well. They want to become one of the defining scenes of the sparkling city life, where more and more returning guests come even on Thursday, Friday or Saturday evenings.
Budapest is still underrated today
We asked István Tiborcz about where the BDPST Group stands today on a scale of ten, if the start, the founding in 2015, is zero, and the decisive domestic, regional and international role, as a kind of end goal, is ten. He did not say a specific number, but he did say that the plans are constantly changing, as are the market and the business environment. For example, years ago when the first property was purchased in the area of today's Dorothea Hotel, there was no pandemic and no war yet. He is convinced that Budapest is still a very underrated tourist destination.
As a real estate developer and hotel operator, our goal is to raise Budapest and the capital's tourism to a higher level
- said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's son-in-law, according to whom guests of all statuses and backgrounds are of course needed, including "party tourists", let as many as possible come, but it is important not to wash away the location where we mainly count on them to entertain higher-income guests , otherwise the two layers cancel each other out and we lose both.
"We need a clear vision of what kind of tourism in Budapest we want in the next 10-20 years, because the character of Buda and Pest is different, but in any case, the concept formulated for each district is not from the devil either. Development plans must be followed purposefully. If the standard rises, the room prices can also approach the amounts found in regional markets with a similar offer"
- added the chairman of the board of BDPST Group, who previously explained his position on the current issues of his company group and the situation of the sector in an interview given to Portfolio
We asked Tiborcz whether he and his father-in-law discussed the development of tourism. He confirmed that it is recurring and that he usually brings it up.
They think alike: Budapest's old glory must be restored.
"People don't flock to Prague by chance, the city shows a completely different face today than, say, when I was a child. The tourist attractions were renovated, which was the result of these developments."
Drawing a parallel, he said that the renovation of Kossuth Square, which in 2010 still looked like a parking lot, served a similar purpose here, but has now become a top attraction. In the same way, the impact of the developments taking place in the castle district can be felt in the increase in tourist traffic.
Dorothea Hotel / Photo: George Fakaros Vision Required
Private investments must pay off
Once we got to the family thread, we were also curious as to whether the family relationship could have had an influence on the fact that the investment just handed over could be realized in a building block located in a world heritage area enjoying international protection.
It obviously didn't affect him. Other investors' value-saving investments will also have the opportunity to be implemented, but they will not be the subject of public discussion. Many monument protection projects have individual evaluations, precisely because the values to be protected must be preserved and renovated, this is not a question. But I think that the Hungarian state cannot stand behind this instead of private investments, but they must also pay off. The frames provided by the walls of the buildings must be filled with content that enables a return, which is why the new functions are needed.
It was highlighted: whoever enters here, falls into the historic environment, meets modern solutions with the preservation of values. "We owe the concept and interior design plans to the well-known Milanese architecture office, Lissoni & Partners, Piero Lissoni's team worked closely with the Hungarian designers." He recalled that
already at the time of planning, they received a lot of attacks that they were destroying the historic environment and the cityscape, even though they took over the buildings with torn slabs and in a state close to collapse.
He believes that the current opening will perhaps take away the edge of the attacks, because not only have historical values been preserved, but they have also been renovated and restored. He explained that in the extremely expensive development, the facade of the building complex had to be supported from all sides, since they were connected from the inside and an entire complex was created. "We preserved and renovated, among other things, the monumental staircase, which we took apart piece by piece and then put it back together from pieces. It was a huge amount of work, but I think the end result speaks for itself." According to István Tiborcz, Market Zrt., which carried out the construction work, did not have an easy job in the four years from demolition to handover, after three completely different buildings had to be opened up after being built in three different eras.
Where would István Tiborcz be today?
We were also curious about the future plans of the group of companies, István Tiborcz said that they are investigating investment opportunities here and in neighboring countries. They are committed to the luxury category, both in terms of housing and hotel development. Although our conversation originally started primarily in relation to the current hotel project, when we broadened this circle to Airbnb's competitive battle, monument protection, and even the Orbán family, we also asked the question that is probably on everyone's mind. Namely: where would István Tiborcz be today in business life, if the prime minister was not his father-in-law, would we even know his name?
I really hope to keep it here, although my name would probably be much less known. As the son-in-law of Viktor Orbán, I became interesting to many people. Some people love me because of this, others hate me, but there are also plenty of people who are looking for a business relationship with me because of this. But overall, it can distort the true assessment of professional performance - either positively or negatively. It took me a while to learn to handle this properly.
It is true that it is an honor to be the prime minister's son-in-law, and I also consider Viktor Orbán an inspiring person, but as an independent actor in business life, I do not wake up in the morning with the thought that my father-in-law is the prime minister
- He told. He added: he created a diversified investment company with a multi-legged investment structure, one of which is real estate development and tourism and hospitality. "With our developments, we increase the attractiveness of Budapest and Hungary."
At the same time, he emphasized that his results and successes were already visible to the naked eye long before he met his wife.
"I can call myself lucky that I come from a good family, my father is a member of a medical dynasty, he is a doctor himself, but for as long as I can remember, my mother has always been in business. There was a way to inherit this spirit, I created my first company as a university student: it dealt with energy saving, which proved to be a gap-filler during the 2008-2009 crisis. We sold transformers imported from Germany in Hungary in such a way that we financed the investment, and the client paid us from the savings. It worked, it worked well, but I sold it later.”
You also have to get into the city from the airport
"In order for Budapest tourism to move in the direction of premium quality, and thus for luxury hotels to receive more attention, it is necessary to develop the infrastructure beyond the four walls, by which I primarily mean the connection between the airport and the city"
said Cameron McNeillie, director of the Dorothea Hotel.
In his view, in addition to high-quality hotels, it would be necessary for more luxury brand stores to be present in Budapest, so that the products of as many high-end manufacturers as possible could become available. He believes that Vienna and Prague, which are ahead in this field, can be examples to follow. According to Cameron McNeillie, they will be unique compared to other market players in the category because they represent contemporary luxury in their design-driven hotel. He sees the importance of Budapest mostly in its wonderful architecture and the country's safety, which is extremely important for travelers coming here.
Source and featured image: Index
