Get Together! at Szallas, Hungary

On 7 May, colleagues from Hungary came together for the first Get Together! of 2025 – a day dedicated to connection, recharging, and personal growth.

Held twice a year, the Get Together! events are much more than just team-building occasions. They are thoughtfully designed experiences that combine learning, bonding, and fun. Each event begins with a morning session focused on personal or professional development, followed by a shared lunch and an afternoon filled with energizing team activities.

This time, the day kicked off with an insightful and interactive workshop on burnout, led by three experienced mental health professionals: Ágnes Bolevácz, Veronika Robogany, and Klaudia Fekete. Together with the team, they explored early warning signs, the stages of burnout, and practical stress management strategies. Participants left the session equipped with valuable tools to maintain a healthier work-life balance.

With fresh insights in mind, it was time to enjoy a well-deserved lunch — delicious pizza — before diving into the afternoon fun. The team split into smaller groups for various activities: some competed in laser tag, others challenged each other with board games, while another group tackled an online escape room, solving secret codes or navigating a dinosaur-infested jungle.

A big thank you to the HU HR team and the Happy Team volunteers for organizing and bringing this energizing day to life!

Szallas Group at Telekom Vivicittá Budapest

On 13 April, 2025, a team of Szallas Group colleagues participated in the 40th Telekom Vivicittá in Budapest, Hungary’s largest spring running festival. Over the weekend of 12-13 April, more than 30,000 runners from over 100 countries took part in various distances, including 7 km, 10 km, and the half marathon, traversing some of Budapest’s most iconic landmarks.

About Telekom Vivicittá

Organized annually by the Budapest Sportiroda (BSI), Telekom Vivicittá is a two-day event that marks the beginning of the spring running season in Hungary. The race routes showcase Budapest’s scenic beauty, passing by UNESCO World Heritage sites and offering participants a unique city tour on foot. The event is inclusive, catering to both professional athletes and amateur runners, and features various distances to accommodate different fitness levels. ​

Szallas Group’s Participation

Demonstrating our commitment to health, wellness, and team spirit, 12 colleagues from Szallas Group took on the challenge:​

• 10 km finishers: Veronika Balás, Dóra Bán, Sarolta Barna, Magdalena Bubela, Krisztina Czinke, Gerald Grace, Anikó Halász, Anita Thomas Dileepné Antal, Dániel Molnár and Alexandra Veréb.
• Half marathon finisher: Dániel Bruck.

Huge congratulations to you all!

From left:
Anikó Halász (Head of HR), Sarolta Barna (Partner Support Representative), Veronika Balás (Key Account Manager), Alexandra Veréb (Partner Support Representative), Dóra Bán (Maiutazas.hu Sales Manager), Gerald Grace (Group CFO), Dániel Molnár (CMO), Magdalena Bubela (CHRO), Anita Thomas Dileepné Antal (HR Transformation and Processes Manager), Krisztina Czinke (Group Internal Communication & Employer Branding Specialist) and Lydia Kassai Bodnár (Customer Service Representative CZ/SK).

Szallas Group’s Young Marketers Represent Hungary at the Cannes Young Lions International Final

Szallas Group’s marketers took first place in the Young Marketers category at the Hungarian competition of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. As a result of this victory, they will represent Hungary at the international final of one of the world’s most prestigious creative industry events, which will be held in Cannes in June 2025.

The Hungarian round of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, one of the most renowned creative competitions in the advertising industry, took place between 7-10 April, organized by MAKSZ (the Association of Hungarian Communication Agencies). In the Young Marketers category, Szallas Group’s young marketers, Petra Messinger and Yuliia Ovchynnikova, took first place, earning the opportunity to represent Hungary at the international final of this world-class festival in Cannes in June, 2025. Among the event’s speakers are global personalities such as Serena Williams – 23-time Grand Slam-winning tennis player, investor, and entrepreneur – YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, and Jon M. Chu, director of Crazy Rich Asians and Wicked. This highlights the immense prestige of this event in the creative industry.

The Young Cannes Lions competition is one of the most prestigious international contests for marketing and advertising professionals under the age of 30. The uniqueness of the Young Marketers category lies in offering young talents working on brands the opportunity to create a creative strategy in response to a real market challenge based on a brief.

“I believe that creativity is not only the privilege of agencies; it also has its place on the brand side, where it has a real business impact. The Young Cannes Lions is an opportunity for young professionals to break free from routine and experiment. It’s a chance to come up with an idea that is not only understandable and emotionally engaging but also strategically thought-out. Anyone who excels here demonstrates not just a great idea but also the ability to think innovatively about how a brand can truly become a valuable part of people’s lives,” said Dorina Pardi, Group Head of Brand Marketing at Szallas Group, who herself reached the international final of Young Lions in 2019 and 2021.

This year’s brief challenged participants to show how the Milka brand could be brought closer to Szallas Group owned Szallas.hu, Hungary’s most popular accommodation booking platform. The task focused on positioning the 50+ generation as a valuable, exemplary community. The goal was to create an idea in just one day that conveyed human connection and social acceptance.

The winners of the Hungarian round, our Customer Retention specialists, eagerly shared the details. “We had to understand and present a target group that is rarely featured in advertisements,” said Petra. “It was an exciting experience, and we are looking forward to representing Hungary in Cannes with a new idea,” added Yuliia.

Szallas Group operates accommodation booking platforms, mobile applications, and loyalty programs in four countries (Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland) and encounter different consumer habits and expectations in the local markets, so creative thinking plays a crucial role in their marketing activities and shaping customer experiences.

“Creativity, for us, is primarily about how we approach a problem and find a simple, effective solution. It helps us better understand what our users truly need. In the retention field, it’s especially important to approach our guests with innovative ideas and empathetic thinking, as loyalty is not just functional but an emotional connection as well. We are incredibly proud of Petra and Yuliia for demonstrating this approach on an international stage. Their victory shows that even the youngest members of our team authentically represent this customer-centered value,” said Rita Szilveszter, Group Head of Retention at Szallas Group.

Petra Messinger and Yuliia Ovchynnikova
Customer Retention Marketing Specialist (Szallas Group)

Hungarian competition of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

Local Strength, Global Vision – Szallas Group Strategy in Czech Forbes

In a recent interview with Forbes Czech Republic, CEO Piotr Furmański and COO Lampros Zolotas outlined Szallas Group vision for the future, stating our commitment to maintaining a strong regional presence while focusing on the personalized needs of travelers in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. Unlike global giants, we prioritize leveraging our in-depth knowledge of the local markets and our strong connections with regional partners.

During the interview, they highlighted how Szallas Group’s local expertise has allowed us to build a platform that not only understands but also adapts to the cultural and business nuances of the CEE region. As Piotr Furmański explained: „We don’t want to be another Booking.” The local-first mindset is at the heart of Szallas Group’s strategy. Our local expertise has allowed us to build a platform that not only understands but also adapts to the cultural and business nuances of the CEE region. By maintaining a deep understanding of local travel preferences, we are able to offer a more tailored experience that resonates with our customers in ways that global competitors cannot replicate. This approach has been instrumental in fostering loyalty and trust, both from our customers and the partners we collaborate with.

As the conversation continued, they discussed the evolution of Szallas Group from a regional player into a major competitor in the travel industry. From expanding our service offerings to enhancing our technological capabilities, we are continuously innovating to stay ahead of the curve. Our investment in improving our platform’s technology ensures that we remain flexible and adaptable, able to meet the ever-changing demands of the travel market.

Lampros Zolotas also touched on the competitive landscape, emphasizing how Szallas Group’s niche strategy — focused on local expertise and personalized service — has enabled us to carve out a unique position in the market. We are not only committed to staying competitive in the face of larger players, but we are also determined to lead the charge when it comes to offering a superior customer experience.

Collaboration with local businesses, particularly hotels and regional accomodation service providers, has been a cornerstone of our success. By working closely with them, we create a mutually beneficial ecosystem that drives growth, supports the local economy, and ensures that travelers enjoy competitive pricing along with high-quality service.

Looking toward the future, both Piotr and Lampros agreed that digital transformation will continue to influence how travelers engage with travel platforms. Szallas Group is well-positioned to leverage the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning, further enhancing our ability to offer personalized, efficient solutions to our customers. As Piotr noted: “Digitalization and AI are transforming the travel industry. Our goal is not just to keep up with the change, but to actively shape it — by combining deep local insight with global experience.”

In conclusion, they reaffirmed our commitment to the founding principles of Szallas Group: local knowledge, personalized service, and constant innovation. As we continue to grow, we are not only focused on maintaining our leadership position in the CEE region, but we are also determined to expand our influence globally and solidify our position as a major player in the global travel industry.

From right: Piotr Furmański (CEO) and Lampros Zolotas (COO)

For more details, feel free to read the full interview here:
https://forbes.cz/nechceme-byt-dalsi-booking-hotely-cz-sili-sazeji-na-znalost-trhu-i-lokalni-servis/