About us
At Szallas Group, we are passionate about making travel accessible, enjoyable, and hassle-free for everyone. Our team is the heart of our company: their passion, dedication, and expertise are what make us truly special. As a rapidly growing company with big ambitions, we have been on an exciting journey of expansion across Central and Eastern Europe since joining Wirtualna Polska’s travel portfolio in 2022.
With 13 online travel products, 90,000 bookable accommodations, and a team of 500+ travel enthusiasts, we are the market leader in the region. Our “local-to-local” approach allows us to deeply understand each market, ensuring a personalized and authentic travel experience. While we’ve already come a long way, we’re just getting started and are confident in our path to success.
Group history
Locations
Budapest
Szallas Group Inc.
One of our Hungarian offices is placed in the prime Buda hill location and can provide a high-quality work environment for 70 employees. The Group management, the Hungarian management, the marketing and sales teams are working in this office. The majority of the discount, travel agency, product and finance team is also located in the Budapest office.
Miskolc
Szallas Group Inc.
The largest office of the Group is located in Miskolc, Hungary. It was the home of the founding team of Szallas.hu. Now it’s occupied by IT development, the Hungarian and cross-country customer service teams, the HR department, the Experience tourism team and part of the Hungarian finance team – more than 150 employees in total. The 800 sqm office has been designed to meet the standards of a 21st century workplace.
Liberec
Hotel.cz a.s.
We opened our Czech office in the country’s fifth-largest city, Liberec, in 2007. Our years here have given us remarkable opportunities. Our local team of over 50 employees is building the Hotel.cz, Penzion.cz and Spa.cz products and serving our more than 100 thousand customers each year.
Cluj-Napoca
Travelminit International
Have you ever been to Cluj-Napoca, also known as the heart of Transylvania? We highly recommend it! You have the opportunity to discover a beautiful big city, full of history and hospitable people. Here you can find our spacious brand new office, where every employee works on the same purpose: being the number one booking platform in Romania.
Warsaw
Noclegi.pl Sp.z.o.o.
Our Polish team works in our downtown, office in the capital of Warsaw. Our management, sales, marketing and customer service teams of more than 10 colleagues serve the guests and hoteliers throughout Poland.
Zagreb
Szallas D.o.o.
Since the Croatian market is the No1 destination for CEE travelers, we have opened an office in the capital. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve had to close its doors, but our local team did not stop working on providing the best services to our customers.
Lublin
Nocowanie
Nocowanie.pl is headquartered in the modern Centrum Zana Office Park at 14 Nałęczowska Street in Lublin. More than 100 specialists, including the Finance and Administration Department, HR Department, Creation and Project Execution Team, Product Development Department, IT Department, Sales and Customer Service Department work together on 1300 sqm.
Group management
The group management team is responsible for the strategic and operational management of Szallas Group. We make sure to find the right balance between the standardized region-wide rules and guidelines but always leaving enough flexibility for local solutions. The weekly group management meetings are the main events to align the operation to share best-practice and know-how within the regional group.
Piotr Furmański, CEO
Budapest (HU) since 2024
Piotr has extensive international experience from his leadership roles at Google, Delivery Hero, and other global brands, having led teams across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is a CFA Charterholder, bringing both strategic and financial expertise to his leadership. He is passionate about fostering innovation and dedicated to collaborating with the talented team at Szallas Group to solidify and expand the company’s position in the CEE travel industry. Beyond his professional endeavors, Piotr is an avid traveler who has enthusiastically embraced life in Budapest, even finding time to pursue his passion for tennis and polo.
Lampros Zolotas, COO
Budapest (HU) since 2024
With nearly two decades of experience in sales, business development, and leadership roles at prominent international organizations, Lampros brings a wealth of expertise to our team. His postgraduate studies in Organizational Change and Development, combined with his skills in Business and Leadership Coaching, further enhance his ability to drive organizational growth. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Lampros is an avid sports enthusiast, having completed three Ironman 70.3 triathlons. He is also passionate about mentoring small and medium-sized enterprises and startups for several non-profit organizations. In his role as COO, Lampros will spearhead strategic initiatives focused on acquiring and serving our partners and guests while his commitment to excellence will undoubtedly elevate our service standards to new heights.
Maciej Połoński, CPO
Budapest (HU) since 2024
Maciej brings over 15 years of expertise in building digital products, with a focus on e-commerce and marketplace platforms. He has collaborated with leading regional companies such as Allegro, Onet, and MODIVO, contributing to key projects including mobile app development, the launch of new verticals, marketplace business models, and the creation of robust product organizations. In addition, he has advised several international companies on their digital transformation journeys. As Chief Product Officer at Szallas Group, Maciej leverages his extensive experience to shape and enhance the company’s product strategy. His leadership is instrumental in driving innovation and delivering exceptional user experiences across the group’s platforms. Outside of work, Maciej is passionate about traveling, cycling, and staying active through regular workouts.
Eszter Gubucz, Group CTO
Budapest (HU) and Miskolc (HU) since 2024
Eszter joined Szallas Group in January 2024 to tend to the Group CTO responsibilities. Her background is in software development in various industries – telecommunication, automotive and e-commerce. As the CTO, she is responsible for the technology side of the Group platform integration initiatives and the well-being and professionalism of people in the technology department. She loves to travel to domestically and internationally for hiking and beach destinations.
Dániel Molnár, CMO
Budapest (HU) since 2024
Dániel started off aiming to be an economist, switched gears to history and journalism, and then found his true calling in online marketing in the early 2000s. At Szallas Group, Dániel’s vision is clear: to turbocharge our operations with cutting-edge automation, smart data optimization, and hit those coveted EBITDA and profit milestones. When he’s not revolutionizing online marketing, Dániel is out running, soaking in audiobooks, doing bodyweight workouts, or enjoying the open waters sailing and the snowy slopes skiing with his family.
Gerald Grace, Group CFO
Budapest (HU) since 2023
Gerald Grace, CFO of the Group since September 2023, is responsible for the finance operations of the Group with the goal of building a regional finance organization that can support the exciting growth and expansion plans of the company. He is qualified as a Chartered Accounting with KPMG Dublin; with over 30 years of professional experience in C-level executive roles in various companies including Invitech Hungary, GTS Central Europe and Six Degrees UK. Gerry is originally from Ireland and enjoys travelling and bee keeping.
Magdalena Bubela, CHRO
Budapest (HU) since 2024
Magda is a highly energetic and creative senior executive with over 20 years of expert proficiency in leading Human Resource strategic agenda across different industries and geographies. Experienced in leading transformational change. Passionate about building high performing teams and helping others grow. Involved in several mentoring initiatives and programs. As the Chief HR Officer at Szallas Group, she is responsible for leading our transformation projects and building a strong, connected community within the organization. Beyond work Magda enjoys sports and travelling. Completed all World Marathon Majors and recently started her adventure with triathlon.
Erzsébet Szalay, Legal Councel
Budapest (HU) since 2023
Erzsébet is the head of legal operations at Szallas Group, where she manages legal projects across multiple jurisdictions and practice areas, collaborating closely with group management, local operations, and shareholders to ensure seamless legal support. With over 15 years of experience, starting at a leading law firm in Budapest before establishing her own firm, Erzsébet has successfully handled cross-border transactions and managed multifaceted legal projects. Outside of work, Erzsébet enjoys lifting weights and sewing, reflecting her dedication to both physical fitness and creative pursuits.
Our mission statement
Szallas Group is a team of passionate experts with the goal to make people happier by providing local and regional travel experiences in cooperation with our partners.
Our vision statement
Szallas Group is to become the largest and most trusted provider of innovative online tourism platforms in the CEE region.
Our core values
1We do our work with passion so all challenges and tasks are solvable for us.
FIFA World Cup
During the FIFA World Cup update the datasheet of the Fan Zone every single day in order to enter the competition for Google’s 1st place. Our team gained many pictures and even videos from the venue and we succeeded; the event became the site’s most visited event of all times!
Dzsenifer Török, Tourism Associate, Hungary
Picturesque Balaton
Beaches at Lake Balaton have a raised role on the program’s site of Szallas.hu. Our content is really good but we did not get enough pictures about them from our local partners. Therefore, at the beginning of summer we decided to go and take the pictures for ourselves; we planned the detailed routes and took the pictures of 100 beaches in 5 days.
Dzsenifer Török, Tourism Associate, Hungary
2Honesty: we speak openly with our partners, colleagues and clients because we trust each other.
Transparency above all
The Group CEO has a monthly presentation for every colleague about financial results, news and happenings in the company. During the pandemic, we knew that the future of our company depended on our work, so we did our best and did not give up. If the company had not spoken about this honestly with us, we would not have put this much effort into our work.
F***ing good!
One night I checked my phone and a partner answered to me to our reservation mail: “Check this accommodation, it is f***ing good!” Not much later I received a second email, saying that he wanted to forward it to one of his colleagues and he was so sorry. That night I made the reservation for them and responded that it is honorable if they like our suggested accommodations.
Milán Fülöp, Szallas Group Corporate Team Leader, Hungary
3Customer and partner focus: we are committed to travelers and to service providers.
Moving in
Someone was looking for a long-term accommodation but did not mention that he had been moving and was arriving with a removal truck. As this information only turned out on the day of arrival, during the 3-hour-long drive we were in touch with our accommodation partner and our client, and were able to find a compromised solution for the situation. It was a challenging race against time but all parties were content with the results.
Milán Fülöp, Szallas Group Corporate Team Leader, Hungary
Your knobhead
I was activating a new partner who could not handle the interface. We discussed her ideas on how she would like to sell her accommodation. By the time she finished, I had already set up the interface for her. She was beside herself with joy. The next day she called me and said: “Hi Szilvi, it is me, your knobhead! I have a problem again but I am sure you can help me…”
Szilvia Tóth, HU Partner Team Leader, Hungary
Gratefulness
Castle of Füzér won 2nd place at the Tourist Attraction competition of 2020. They were very grateful to us for our support: we got mugs, postcards, fridge magnets and keychains by post, together with a letter. It said: “We are really happy that we won this prize. It could not have happened without your help, thank you for your cooperation!”
Dzsenifer Török, Tourism Associate, Hungary
4We believe in continuous development therethrough we can flexibly adapt to any situation, that is what drives the company forward.
Helpfulness
I remember how nervous I was when I was hired as I did not have any previous experience in this field. Moreover, it was during the pandemic so the company could easily decide to let me go. But they did not. Instead, I got every opportunity to close up and develop my skills. It is rare to have a job that is your hobby as well and feel that you could not have any better workplace.
Exchanging ideas
Our Czech sales colleagues came to Budapest to change experiences. It was interesting to see how they look for solutions for the same problems we have. We could learn a lot from each other and it was a great experience that I can still use today.
Milán Fülöp, Szallas Group Corporate Team Leader, Hungary
5We base our decisions on data.
Success of a SEO software
In February 2019, we were at the 14th place in Google ranking for the keyword “sights”. Then we started to use the SE Ranking Seo software and thanks to that, in 2021, we were able to get the first 3 places.
Dzsenifer Török, Tourism Associate, Hungary
BI system rules
When we analyze our data independently it hasn’t been consistent; the analysis has taken a long time and so the results have been inconsistent as well. With our BI system, we created an integrated database that our colleagues can easily use. It is so good to see that more and more colleagues use the system on a daily basis. I believe that this system makes the daily tasks easier and we can make faster decisions built on consistent, reachable data.
Kitti Jasztrabszki, Data Specialist, Hungary