Willy Hobal is the founder & CEO of Hobal Luxury. We recently interviewed him to understand more about the luxury market and his entrepreneurial journey.
Kindly describe your journey in the Hospitality industry.
It all started when I was 9 years old. I started working at that age cleaning a house. The owner of the house was working in a hotel and I admired her a lot. I was a kid and I was fascinated by her profession. I used to tell myself that one day, I will be working in the hotel she is working in and I will be doing what she is doing. About 8 years later, I started working in her position in exactly the same hotel. It was then, when I discover my passion for hospitality. The same passion led me into opening my own business in the Luxury segment and into helping independent luxury hotels.
What were the initial challenges that you faced in your endeavor?
Fear to failure and impostor syndrome. It hit me hard. I had to be strong and over a period of time I built a stronger persona that helped me to overcome my fears and finally start my own company.
How and when did you come up with the idea of Hobal Luxury Collection?
It was last year, 2019. I remember looking for days for a representation company that covers the main European markets and offer an integrated sales, marketing and PR services, all in one, with a cost-effective budget. But due to my frustration of not finding the services I needed, it gave me the courage to design the hotel representation company that I always dreamed of working with.
Luxury Brands have suffered a lot during the ongoing pandemic. How is your brand tackling with the challenges?
Indeed, most of the industries are suffering a lot because of Covid-19. However, lockdown restrictions are being eased and people are starting to travel again. What I can predict so far is that the luxury hospitality will increase because of the need of distance, space and privacy and this is a golden moment for luxury independent hotels. We are working a lot more with digital connexion and everything currently is home based. However, before the pandemic, it was our idea to design to freedom to work from home.
How do you connect travel agents with luxury hotels and how do hotels benefit from it?
For us, the travel agents pay a very important role in this industry. It doesn’t matter how digital the travel industry become, the travel agents will always exist. We are in constant communication with travel agents to update them about the new offers, changes and upcoming events of the hotels of our collection, inviting them to visit the properties, maintaining the relationship and creating new one, signing new contracts, and other strategies in order to keep the hotels in their portfolio and sharing updated information they can offer to their clients. The benefit for the hotels come from the result of the implementation of those strategies with travel agencies.
How do you differentiate your brand with the other brands working in the luxury segment?
Our integrated services is a major offering for independent hotels. Our services help them know that they will get the best coverage with a cost effective budget. But also our core values; Quality, Trust, Creativity and Passion are present in our DNA. We love what we do, when you do what you love, things are hard to imitate.
How is the travel and tourism industry going to revive from the damages done by this pandemic? What are your company’s plans in the near future?
These are very unique times, Having said that, people will not stop traveling. What I can see or predict for the next months is that hotels and travelers will take the necessary measures for safeguarding health and safety while traveling. Just like other businesses, the ones that adapt to these times are the ones that will survive. Our main plan is to keep working hard. Hard work is a characteristic that defines me and my team and no matter what happens, we will keep working hard everyday.
