Szallas.hu’s loyalty program, Hű! was launched successfully

The members of our loyalty program can save significant amounts of money even on this year’s vacation.

Our new loyalty program, Hű! has already been chosen for nearly 1,500 bookings since its launch that was just a few weeks ago. The Hű! membership is free, but requires registration. In exchange for joining, guests can access discounted offers from more than 2,000 accommodations so far. With the membership, guests will also receive program coupons as a gift for domestic bookings, so they can save an additional 10-50 percent  from the price of entrance tickets and restaurants.

Prior to the introduction and development of the program, with the cooperation of Frontira, we conducted representative research among the Hungarian population, in which we examined attitudes related to loyalty. According to the survey, more guest nights can be generated thanks to the discount offers. Every second respondent would travel 1-6 days more per year than without the discount. „Two-thirds of the respondents would prefer to travel more than once a year if they received more discount offers, 22% would rather spend longer time in one place, while 13% would not be affected by this,” explained Beatrix Trepess, the marketing manager responsible for the Szallas.hu loyalty program. The research also revealed that four-fifths of respondents are open to loyalty programs and are already members of many of them. Most people register because of the feeling of personalized offers and collecting points. „When using an online accommodation booking portal, price, quality, previous experience and comfort are the most important,” added Beatrix.  She also said that the percentage if the discount proves to be the most valuable, followed by discount coupons for attractions and restaurants near the accommodation. „The results show that even a 10% discount is motivating, but for a third of the respondents, the 15% level is the lower threshold, and almost two-thirds would prefer a level above 20%,” said Beatrix.

Hű! has nearly 10,000 users who have already registered for membership in less than 2 weeks, and they booked nearly 1,500 discounts in one of the Hungarian, Croatian, and Romanian accommodations that joined the program. „The loyalty program benefits both guests and accommodation providers,” said Beatrix. „Guests registered for the loyalty program can get significant discounts, and accommodation providers participating in the program, in addition to getting better visibility on our site, can also benefit from more guest nights.” Members are entitled to a 10% discount at the initial loyalty level at more than 2,000 selected hotels in Hungary, Croatia and Romania. They can also save on the price of entrance tickets and restaurants. The loyalty levels can be increased with a higher discount: the next level is a 20% discount. „We are constantly expanding the new loyalty program based on our preliminary survey and market feedback, so we will soon add more campaigns and benefits to the program,” said Beatrix. She also added that the registration of hotels, tourist attractions and restaurants is also open, they can join the loyalty program at any time, for which they will receive a free interface and appearance on the Szallas.hu website.

Why is it worth joining?

As the research shows, price is one of the most important criteria for the majority of guests when choosing accommodation, which is why they can be moved towards booking with a discount. „This is a great opportunity for accommodation providers, for example, who don’t have their own loyalty program or don’t have the opportunity to carry out major marketing campaigns – said Beatrix – But it also benefits the big players, as they can be higher in the search results list, so they get better visibility.”  As a result of the better price, the majority of guests can travel several times or for a longer period of time on an annual basis, so the number of guest nights increases.

Thank you to all colleagues who participated in the implementation, communication and introduction of the loyalty program. Congrats for reaching another milestone in Szallas’s history!

Szallas Group acquires Litoralul Romanesc

2024 has brought a huge success to the operation of Szallas Group: we have acquired an impressive 80% stake in Creative Eye SRL, the Romanian company behind the travel platform Litoralulromanesc.ro, that offers several hundred accommodations located along the Black Sea coastline in Romania and had a 45 million euros total value of bookings in 2023, generating 3 million euros of EBITDA during this period.

With this strategic move, Travelminit.ro will be able to widen its inventory to meet the needs of those who are interested in leisure trips as well as vacation getaways to Romanian seaside resorts: almost the entire range of hotels along the Romanian coast will be available to the guests of Szallas Group from the summer of 2025.

The integration not only solidifies our position in the market but also underscores our commitment to expanding our footprint in Central and Eastern Europe. With this union, we’re not just merging businesses; we’re blending expertise, resources, and passion to create something truly extraordinary. 

“The acquisition of Litoralulromanesc.ro is a milestone in our development in this country. It is a combination of two businesses that operate in tourism but have different yet complementary characteristics. Travelminit focuses on leisure tourism getaways to smaller inland accommodations, while Litoralul Romanesc is the country’s leader in vacation getaways to Romanian seaside resorts. Together, we will be able to offer our customers a comprehensive travel offer.” – says Ferenc Rigó, CEO of Szallas Group. With this 16.8 million euros worth of deal, Szallas Group will be able to cover 330 hotels out of the 380 on the Romanian seaside. 

The deal have been greatly supported by the acquisition team of Wirtualna Polska Holding, owner of Szallas Group. Aleksander Kusz, VP E-commerce at WP also added: “I am very pleased that Szallas Group’s first acquisition, following its takeover by WP Group, is in Romania, a country where we believe the growth of travel services will be the fastest. We believe that, like the Romanian economy as a whole, the travel market will also soon record very dynamic growth, catching up with comparable countries.” 

“Our tech expertise, business model and potential proved to be very successful and have been observed on the European market by Szallas Group, backed by Wirtualna Polska Holding. They are committed to invest in Creative Eye to further develop the company and, together with Travelminit, to attain a market leader position in Romania. Following this investment, Litoralulromanesc.ro will be able to provide new solutions to serve customers and grow exponentially”, adds Ionut Nedea, founder and CEO of Creative Eye. ”We are pursuing a new level of development of Litoralulromanesc.ro, enhancing our commitment to customers and having a bold perspective on the future, both on the local market and in the region”.

In cooperation with the team of 50 passionate experts at Litoralul Romanesc, we will instantly start to prepare for 2025 summer, which will be our very first joint great seaside sales season.

The transaction value of the 80% stake in Creative Eye SRL is EUR 16.8 million adjusted for net cash as at the closing date. As part of the deal, Szallas Group also agreed to acquire the remaining 20% stake in 2025, after the approval of the 2024 financial statements. The acquisition value of the 20% stake will be determined based on the mechanism established in the purchase agreement.

From left to right: Ferenc Rigó (Szallas Group CEO), Ionut Nedea (founder and CEO of Creative Eye SRL), Adam Rogaliński (VP Corporate Development, Wirtualna Polska Holding), Jakub Moczulski (Investment Manager, Wirtualna Polska Holding)

From left to right: Ionut Nedea (founder and CEO of Creative Eye SRL), Ferenc Rigó (Szallas Group CEO)

Szallas Expedition, the first job shadowing program of Szallas Group

In April, Szallas Group implemented its first international job shadowing program, where participating colleagues had the opportunity to spend an entire workday with a Group Management member of their choice.

The goal of this international program was to provide colleagues with insight into how the Group Management daily work looks like, in order to implement the strategic vision of Szallas Group through short but intensive interactions. The applicants participated in leaders’ meetings, learned about their career paths and motivations, and during shared breakfasts and lunches, they also discussed their own plans and future ambitions.

„The job shadowing day was a challenge as a leader as well, because we received very bold questions about both the company’s strategic goals and our personal ambitions and career paths.” highlights Krisztina Agárdi, Group HR & Communication Director of Szallas, and one of the hosting participants of the program.

According to the feedback, colleagues also enjoyed this intense day, which jolted them out of their daily routines and provided forward-looking experiences in terms of both the company’s vision and their personal career paths. Especially if they had the chance to visit another country or office as part of the program.

Learn more about the feedback of the participants!

We are looking for a Chief Online Marketing Director!

As a group of leading digital travel products from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland, Szallas Group is a multi-product travel platform in the Central and Eastern European region. Following a “local-to-local” strategy, the group is the market leader in the technology- and customer-driven Central and Eastern European online travel agency market with its 11 online travel products, more than 80,000 bookable accommodation partners, and a team of more than 500 people, being part of Wirtualna Polska’s travel portfolio since late 2022.

How could the Chief Online Marketing Director help Szallas’s growth?

  • Dig deep into understanding our customers with the help of our data team.
  • Evangelising Szallas in terms of Lifetime Value approach and customer retention.
  • Building cutting edge online marketing funnels incorporating latest technology.
  • Unlocking the power of marketing automation.
  • Optimizing our campaigns for the most relevant KPIs.
  • Importing latest trends and technologies into the organization.

Expectations

Professional

  • 10+ years of experience in digital marketing
  • Hands on experience in ecommerce (insights in travel sector are welcome)
  • Hands on experience with marketing automation tools
  • P&L responsibility of 10+ mEUR/year
  • Visionary approach, happy to build systems from scratch

Leadership

  • C-suit level 3+ years
  • empowering leadership for an international team of 6-10 people
  • great communication skills to evangelize group management and to sell online marketing vision to owners

Skills

  • strategic and analytical thinking
  • absolute costumer focus
  • high level project management skills

Way of working

  • attending Budapest headquarters on a regular basis, at least monthly
  • ENG as lingua franca
  • international, especially CEE experience
  • transparent, agile approach

What we offer?

  • a potential growth success story of travel sector in the region
  • a great international team of dedicated professionals
  • a motivating bonus system
  • membership in the ESOP program

How to apply?

Please send your CV and motivation letter to Krisztina Agárdi at krisztina.agardi@szallas.hu.

The application process will include test tasks and multiple interviews.