In Genoa too, class will out
Interview with General Manager Gabriele Fortunato.
A historic Genoese hotel with no less than 120 years of history behind it, the Grand Hotel Savoia is a witness to the past and present of tourism in “La Superba”, remaining faithful to its tradition of classy hospitality, tailored to the needs of every international guest, as General Manager Gabriele Fortunato explains. “Today our mission is increasingly to create unique moments that guests will remember and therefore want to experience again in the future. How? Not only in our hotel, but throughout our hotel group, Planetaria Hotels, we are constantly searching, through working groups operating in various areas, for new ideas that can be turned into innovative services for guests. Starting from the premise that the basic services must in any case always remain of top quality, and at times rediscovering some ‘old’ ones: for example, every evening we offer live music with our pianist, and every month we host a concert in our beautiful Bar Royale”.
“How competitive is Italy as a destination on the international market today, and how much should be done to make it so? “Travelling often to national and international trade fairs and workshops, I must say that Italy is always present at the most important events and above all in the most representative markets, thanks also to the participation of individual businesses. Greater visibility, and therefore greater resources than at present, could be devoted to marketing and advertising campaigns, promoting culture, outdoor activities, food and wine and the conference segment. Genoa, for its part, has seen an excellent increase in visibility at a local level in recent years, promoting various initiatives linked to culture, events, place marketing and social media campaigns. Of course, there is no shortage of significant critical issues, such as the accessibility of the destination, which is currently a handicap both by train and by air”.
Today in the world of hospitality a strong watchword is personalisation: which elements give a competitive advantage?
“All the hotels in our group have a strong identity and personality, due in large part to the work and creativity of our CEO, Sofia Gioia Vedani, who is also an architect. She has in fact been able to personalise the spaces, linking them to the context of the property and the location in which they stand. The Grand Hotel Savoia in particular is inspired by the years in which it was built, the Belle Époque: the classic furnishings and the rooms with trunks recall long transatlantic voyages, and much more. And precisely in the context of the room, today the bed is of extremely significant importance in the choice of a property, not least because we can say that a third of our day is devoted to rest, so its quality certainly has a considerable impact on our moods and performance. Indeed, the whole bed system must be considered an investment to satisfy guests’ desire for comfort. With this in mind, a few months ago the Grand Hotel Savoia decided to replace its mattresses, choosing Dorelan with its top-of-the-range product ‘Millenaire’. A carefully considered investment that we are sure can bring us precisely the competitive advantage that the quality of rest and sleep has in our guests’ assessment of their stay”.