"We Learned Over the Years to Be Flexible and Respond Quickly to Any Situation - We Want to Expand Abroad"

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Despite the prolonged war, Isrotel Hotels Network concludes another excellent year.

The hotel network, under CEO Lior Raviv, who continues to lead the company to great success, ends the year with outstanding business results, unaffected by the war unlike most other networks.

Lior, how do you summarize 2024 for Isrotel?

"An interesting year. On the one hand, we faced incredible challenges - a year that started with evacuations, continued with hybrid hotels, during the first two quarters.

From Passover, we operated in all our hotels, in Eilat, the Dead Sea, the exclusive hotels, we worked very strongly with the Israeli market. In the first three quarters, we achieved exceptional results. I am very hopeful that the year will end on a very positive note for us. I distinguish between the economic aspect and what is happening in the country. We have yet to see incoming tourism; I hope that in the second and third quarters of 2025, we will start seeing tourists."

Almost everyone is struggling in the hotel industry, how do you achieve the great results you present?

"Our deployment is very suitable for such situations, including the coronavirus and the ongoing war. We have 8 hotels in Eilat, and Eilat is working very well; we have 2 hotels at the Dead Sea, and they are performing strongly. We have the Beresheet, Kedma, Carmel Forest, and Cramim, and they are all performing very strongly too. I am pleasantly surprised by the success of the Orient in Jerusalem. Despite Jerusalem's challenges, the Orient had an excellent year as it is perceived as a resort, a vacation hotel within Jerusalem that attracts those seeking relaxation. It has a rooftop pool, Carmel Forest Spa, an indoor pool, so it did very well. Even the Tel Aviv hotels were paradoxically fully booked on weekends, though weaker mid-week. Overall, we also survived in Tel Aviv. So, if you combine all these elements, the result is exceptional. It should be noted that at the Goma by the Kinneret, we have evacuees, as is the case in Mitzpe HaYamim. All our hotels in 2024 were fully operational. We did not have a single closed hotel.

I can tell you something else: we have learned over the years to be very flexible and respond quickly to any situation. We know how to reduce expenses very quickly and resume hotel operations swiftly. Another very strategic aspect for us is the Circle of the Sun. The Isrotel client's circle, which includes over 250,000 loyal customers who regularly visit our hotels, significantly assists us during such times."

Isrotel's Orient Hotel. Photo: Assaf Pinchuk

What about your expansion and growth overseas?

"We are about to open another hotel with 219 rooms in Athens, in mid-February, called Adia, under the Aluma brand - our international brand.

We are negotiating for another hotel in Athens.

This will essentially be our fourth hotel in Athens. We have Skylark, Adia, Anise, which is currently 60 rooms, and in January, another 40 rooms will be built. We have another hotel in Thessaloniki and two in Rome currently, where we are also negotiating for one or two additional hotels. The Savoy in Rome, with 120 rooms, is 100% owned by Isrotel, and we are converting another building from offices to a 37-room hotel in the best location in the city. We are examining quite a few more things.

By the end of 2025, I really hope we will reach 10 more hotels abroad. I suppose that is what will happen. Isrotel started in Eilat, but we are no longer an Eilat-based company - we are fully balanced. The natural move for a company like ours is to expand abroad to become even more balanced."

Have you reached your limit in Israel?

"We have not reached our limit. Here, too, naturally, we get a lot of approaches from many entrepreneurs due to our capabilities in managing hotels, and we choose only specific things that interest us from the perspective of the company's image and also from the ability to generate value. We love operating hotels in Israel; we love the Israeli audience. The Israeli audience loves us. Every winter, we invest hundreds of millions of shekels in renovating hotels starting from King Solomon, which is closed for four months, through the Royal Garden, through Cramim, Sports Hotel, Royal Beach in Eilat, through the Laguna Hotel. We invest huge amounts to upgrade the hotels and also build new hotels.

Isrotel will open 5 hotels in Israel this year. Kimeu at the Dead Sea, near the Nevo Hotel, is set to be the most luxurious hotel in Israel with 47 suites on the shore of the Dead Sea, surrounded by pools. The hotel will be connected by a bridge to the nearby Nevo Hotel. We will also open Daroma, which was the Ramon Inn, Dizengoff 99, which will open in mid-February, Montifiore, and maybe another hotel if an agreement is reached. Currently, we have 23 hotels in Israel, and we will have 24 by mid-February, and then we will open another hotel in the north of the country."

ALUMA Hotel. Photo: ALUMA

What is the target number of hotels in Israel?

"I haven't set a target for myself. We are successful here, but the activity is relatively limited."

What is the secret of Isrotel's success?

"The team, just the team, that's the whole story. Anyone can invest in hotels if there's money. The difference is the team, employees, managers, organizational culture that has been with us for 40 years since the company's establishment; that's what differentiates Isrotel from any other hotel management company in Israel."