Sun & Snow wants to enter more major Polish cities

by   CIJ News iDesk III
2023-05-29   10:58
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Sun & Snow, which manages the rental of more than 2,000 apartments in more than 30 resorts and cities, plans to increase its presence in major Polish cities. A new local office has been established in Warsaw, with plans to enter the markets in Wroclaw, Torun and Poznan. The increase in the number of serviced city apartments, is the result of a new strategy involving a larger share of B2B offerings in the group's turnover, and the use of the Click & Stay system's capabilities in handling bookings in a distributed model.

"In a sense, we follow our customers, both apartment owners and travelers. Particularly in the corporate segment, we saw the potential to offer comprehensive services to individual business customers and to leverage the experience we have gained in the Tri-City and Krakow in Warsaw and other urban markets. We want to quickly complement our metropolitan offerings so that we can offer more comprehensive corporate rental services, both in terms of single stays and subscription solutions. More urban destinations, will also strengthen our offer based on vouchers, which we are constantly developing and offering, among other things, in cafeteria systems," says Mariola Skorupa, Director of Sales and Marketing at Sun & Snow.

Sun & Snow has been consistently expanding its offer for companies for several years. In 2022, another step in this direction was its entry into the conference market. Earlier, it separated from its offer premises where it is possible to combine remote work with leisure (so-called "workation"). Sun & Snow, also has a unique proprietary booking system, through which it makes more than 60 percent of its sales. So far, in addition to the resorts, the company has been present in the Tri-City and Krakow. To the offer of the operator, the year has already been joined by Warsaw, where the construction of the structures of another local office has already begun. More cities such as Poznań, Toruń and Wrocław are expected to join a little later. The company admits that the greater openness to servicing stays in major cities is related, among other things, to the introduction of the Click & Stay system, which allows the construction of a hotel dispersed in any city in Poland.

"The new checking system we have successfully introduced enables us to scale the business and to a greater extent automate the service of stays in our apartments. Travelers, including in the corporate segment, now expect shorter paperwork and the ability to complete all formalities from a personal smartphone. Warsaw and the other major cities in Poland, apart from Krakow and the Tri-City, have so far been absent from our offer, which has often been incomprehensible to our customers, who have become accustomed to our booking system. We also have apartment owners with whom we cooperate in resorts, but until now we could not offer them service in Warsaw, for example. Hence, this step is quite natural in our development," says Marcin Dumania, CEO at Sun & Snow.

The Click & Stay service was introduced to Sun & Snow's portfolio in late 2022 and early 2023. It allows guests to book, contact a local company representative and check-in online, without having to visit a local office or contact a representative. Remote check-in of guests in the Click & Stay service is enabled by an electronic lock overlay. It allows tourists to arrive at the apartment at any convenient time, regardless of local office hours. In the future, the system is to be expanded to include more capabilities that will allow, among other things, remote management of the apartment's temperature.

"Inquiries about the possibility of staying in apartments in Warsaw or other cities have been appearing in our booking channels for a long time. Our offer is associated with attractive holiday apartments, located in tourist-attractive corners of Poland, but mainly at the seaside and in the mountains. The success that was the introduction of a small pool of apartments in the Masuria region prompted us to consider other directions where our offer has a chance of success," adds Mariola Skorupa, Director of Sales and Marketing at Sun & Snow.

Sun & Snow's goal, which was announced earlier this year, is to increase the number of serviced apartments. The company is already in talks with more than a dozen owners interested in joining the oldest independent apartment network in Poland. The talks also involve cities where the operator's offer has not been available so far.