Occupancies at the Hilton Cape Town City Centre have tripled since the group took over the management of the hotel from Coral International in April this year, says newly appointed GM, Markus Fritz.

In addition, he says, the hotel is almost fully booked for the upcoming festive season by guests from South Africa, the US, Germany and the UK. The upswing follows a serious slump this year in the Cape hospitality industry due to a lingering worldwide recession and an overcapacity of hotel rooms.

However, Fritz says the fact that Hilton is one of the most internationally recognizable brands, as well as its worldwide marketing and sales engine and loyalty programme, are driving progress at the hotel. He says the nature of the market, even globally, is such that global hotel brands and their quality reputation are becoming more and more prominent, while non-branded hotels are finding it increasingly difficult to survive.

“At Hilton, we are two steps ahead of the competition in terms of market intelligence, yield management, BAR (Best Available Rate) on our website and communication with our clients. Having the right strategic partners is also key.  We see great potential to engage with the corporate and leisure market, while our eight million loyalty members worldwide are also driving business to this market.”

However, he is sceptical about the trend of dynamic pricing for corporates as hotels move away from contracted rates to a percentage off the BAR to counter marginal expected growth in demand and continued low occupancies. “Dynamic pricing works when demand is low but in peak season it doesn’t. Corporate travel need projections and a floating rate won’t allow that.”

He says the hotel attracts an equal amount of corporate and leisure business due to its city centre location. Plans to expand the main downstairs bistro are going ahead. In deference to the Muslim Bokaap community surrounding the hotel, its ground-floor restaurants have remained halaal but alcohol is served on other floors. “We want to be part of the local community. Everyone is welcome!” he says.

Austrian-born Fritz, who took over from Andreas Bossard, has been in management at Hilton Worldwide for the past 12 years, having worked in the UK, Austria, Germany, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, where he was hotel manager at Hilton Prague.  His appointment comes at a time when Hilton is expanding rapidly in Africa, having set itself a target of 13 more hotels on the continent.