Turkey: Home-grown Hero

 
The top end of the Turkish hotel market has become increasingly dominated by international brands but local player Divan, part of the giant Koç conglomerate, has succeeded in building a diverse hospitality enterprise including hotels, pubs, brasseries and cafes plus branded patisserie, chocolate and industrial-scale meal production. Bruce Whitehall looks at the growth of the business.
 

 
Since the middle of the 19th century, Istanbul has attracted major hotel companies and these have made their mark on the city’s gastronomic landscape. This tradition has continued in the past 20 years with many of the world’s top brands wellrepresented including Swissotel (with one of Europe’s largest food and beverage operations), Hilton (three properties in Istanbul), Inter-Continental, Four Seasons, Movenpick, Kempinski, Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton. All operate relatively large 5-star properties under management contract on prime locations.
 
Home-grown hotel businesses have been more in evidence in the emergent sector of smaller, lower price ‘Ottoman boutique’ hotels, notable exponents in Istanbul being Empress Zoe, Yeçil Ev and Ayasofya Pansiyonlari. There are also signs of interest in the development of more contemporary, ‘hip’ hotels, led by The Sofa, opened in 2006, and the Bentley, owned by the Design Hotels Group.
 

 
However, in the mainstream hotel business serving business and upper-end tourists, one Turkish brand stands out as an example of both professional hotel operation and innovative brand extension.Divan Hotels, part of the giant industrial conglomerate Koç owns and manages six large properties, two of them in Istanbul. The Divan brand has also been applied successfully to other activities such as the Divan Pub chain which offers a Western European style pub-bistro in prime locations at hotels, airports and in standalone sites. The group also operates a string of brasseries and has interests in chocolate products, patisserie, event catering and industrial meal production.
 
Hotel development Divan was, in 1956, the first hotel to be founded with Turkish private capital when tycoon Vehbi Koç had difficulties finding what he regarded genuine Turkish hospitality on his frequent trips to Istanbul. This saw the building of the Divan Istanbul near Taksim Square. Founded in 1926, the Koç Group is reckoned to be Turkey’s largest enterprise with interests in cars, durable goods, retailing, energy, financial services, construction and IT as well as food and tourism. Koç Holding, holding company of the Koç Group, currently has 123 companies with shares of 21 of them traded at the Istanbul Stock Exchange, plus overseas operations in 23 countries.
 

 
| 14 February 2007 | Bruce Whitehall |