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Now you can also sleep under the Golden Arches
There is another brand name which is moving into the hotelier business. This company, however, has the benefit of being one of the world's most respected and imitated enterprises in quite different sectors of the hospitality business, as well as the marketing business, and the franchising business, and the merchandising business, and branding business . . . We have all grown up eating in their restaurants. Now you can sleep in the first of their hotels. You are accustomed to the quality, cleanliness and service levels of their products and facilities. You know you get a good bang for your buck - or any other currency you are working with right now. You know they're efficient, friendly and progressive. Welcome to a Golden Arch Hotel. This is their hotel concept: a spanking clean property with all the best electronic gadgets you'll need. There's self check-in and check-out available, if you choose. Or, you can do it the traditional way (for those who actually remember business travel before the invention of e-tickets at the airports, it's nice to have the personal option in the hotel, too). When you reach your room there are four (count'em - four!) different international modem plugs on your spacious desk top (on the desk - no more kneeling down and spraining your back to look for the plug). There's also a seat in the spacious shower and the best bed and mattress in town. There's a 'garderobe' system which will never let you forget that travel umbrella again while rushing to catch your flight. Hotels will be closely located to airports and other transit centers, and provide functional meeting rooms. The catchwords for the concept must be "security" and "cleanliness" and especially "good value for money". Some travellers will wonder what took the hotel industry so long to offer such a product. The first of these incredibly innovative hotel properties can't be found near JFK, nor Charles de Gaulle, nor Heathrow nor Narita. Not yet, anyway. The flagship property of this new branded hotel can, however, be found about 4 kms from Zurich Airport - the Golden Arch Hotel. For this you can thank Switzerland's McDonald's organization under the leadership of Urs Hammer, chairman and CEO of McDonald's Suisse Holding SA. In extending McDonald's brand to the hotel sector they have taken one of the boldest steps in the history of the global organization. As both the "master franchiser" for McDonald's in Switzerland and a member of McDonald's corporate structure, Hammer emphasizes: "This is a test for McDonald's Switzerland, and possibly worldwide. We are stepping up our expansion in Switzerland -- a second Golden Arch hotel opened in April in Lully (near Fribourg) and a third one near Geneva airport is under consideration. We need to see how the market is responding. It's something totally different from anything we have ever done. But at the same time it is a logical extension or consequence of our traditional business which focuses on hospitality. We are already experts in customer service, systems and processes ". When asked how they plan on overcoming the possible negative impact of being a hotel built on the shoulders of a "burger joint", Max Wiener, member of the Advisory Board of Golden Arch Hotels, reasons: "I have learned something over the years. If you make no promises and if you give more than what people are expecting, that's really good advertising. If you do the opposite -- make the promises of a five star hotel -- then you are more likely to disappoint your client. That's one of our strengths. Customers receive more than they expect and that is very good advertising". According to Hammer, Switzerland is a great market to introduce such a new concept, pointing out that the country is well-known for its hotel training programs and innovations in this sector. He also noted that the country has a multi-cultural environment, making it a unique test market for such a new product. The group has ambitious plans to expand its chain of restaurants (currently 123 opened), with 13 or 14 scheduled for opening in each of the next three years. Hammer also wants to develop the use of the McDonald's brand, by introducing more innovative outlets. Lastly, he plans on growing the group as a whole by adding more brands to the portfolio. "The third strategy is growth. The Golden Arch is one. Then we have Marcos Pizza, AROMA coffee shops and the latest -- the Prêt-a-Manger sandwich chain in London," Hammer explains. Ambitious plans, indeed. But initial results already indicate that "there's a lot of beef" to the concept.
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Ricola www.ricola.ch Hilti www.hilti.co.jp  |
Urs Hammer, Chairman and CEO of McDonald's Suisse Holdings SA, wants to give customers more than they expect