Hotels eyeing catering market

The restaurants of the Grande Bretagne and King George hotels are planning an entry into the delivery market, capitalizing on increasing demand for home delivery – especially due to the pandemic – but also in order to expand revenue during an increasingly challenging time for the industry.

Tim Ananiades, general manager at the two 5-star hotels, told the digital conference “Ho.Re.Ca Business: Shaping Future Trends,” organized by the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, that their entry into delivery services is something the hotels had been discussing before the pandemic. 

Lampsa, the company that owns the hotels, told Kathimerini that the initiative is still in the market research phase and will not be launched immediately. 

Although the introduction of these services will not provide the hotels with significant revenues, it may help them increase their viability during these unprecedented times. Before the coronavirus outbreak, Grande Bretagne had an occupancy rate of over 80% for the summer; this has now dropped to less than 50% for the rest of the year, a trend that is set to continue into the first quarter of next year. 

Food delivery is also being considered by Dipnosofistirion, an event-organizing and catering company. As owner Takis Christofileas told the same conference, seeing revenues decline in a year that was shaping up to be the best on record has forced the company to reevaluate its investing strategy and competitively enter other sectors. “We are trying to develop alliances so that that we can take up food provisioning in spaces like large companies, schools, delivery platforms and fast-casual dining”, said Christofileas, describing an initiative that will be completed around October. By his calculations, the company could generate up to 20% of its revenue through delivery services. 

The General Manager for TGI Fridays in Greece, Nikos Negas, noted during the meeting that delivery is on an upward trajectory and even though it is not easy for brands to change their business model and services, they need to explore possible alternative strategies. As for TGI Fridays, less than 10% of revenue currently comes from delivery so a possible expansion into the sector is being considered.