MEET THE MEMBER – Sokos Hotels, Radisson Blu Marina Palace Hotel, Turku

By 9.8.2018News

Did you know Radisson Blu Marina Palace is the only hotel in Turku area to fulfil the requirements of official governmental visits, having everything needed to satisfy top security requirements? And what is good for the presidents and royalty is definitely OK for the business traveller and conference holder, too! Learn more from Nea Vuoti, the Sales Manager for Sokos Hotels and Radisson Blu Hotels in Turku, below.

Who are you?
I am Nea Vuoti, Sales Manager for Sokos Hotels and Radisson Blu Hotels in Turku. I have worked for hospitality industry nearly all my life, among others at Viking Line, Naantali Spa, Holiday Club Spa Hotels and now I work for Turun Osuuskauppa, which operates Sokos Hotels and Radisson Blu Marina Palace Hotel in Turku. I have background also in the import of floorings to Finland and in working at the bank as well. I come from an entrepreneur family. My versatile experience helps me to understand better the hospitality needs of our clients and to find suitable solutions for them.

What is your company specialized in?
Radisson Blu is Europe´s largest upper upscale hotel brand, over 190 hotels in Europe. Radisson Blu Hotels and Sokos Hotels are the most successful hotel chains in Finland, many nominations for solid performance as best hotels in different towns (tripadvisor, World Travel Awards etc). Domestic Sokos Hotels chain offers 3 different hotel sub-brands: Original, Break and Solo for different kind of accommodation, meeting & event needs. Altogether 50 hotels in 30 cities/resorts, of which 3 in St. Petersburg in Russia and 2 in Tallinn in Estonia. Typical for Sokos Hotels is to bring up strongly local and Finnish culture in the hotel design, service and in the restaurants.

Tell us about your clients and other key shareholders and partners?
The core idea of Turun Osuuskauppa is to provide co-op members with competitive services and benefits profitably. There are over 150 000 households of customer owners in the Turku area (66 % of all households). Turun Osuuskauppa paid bonus to customer owners 19,3 M € in 2017.

Our hospitality industry works closely with different corporates, associations, unions and sport clubs, who have accommodation, meeting and event needs. We offer cooperation possibilities with our hotels based on the needs of our clients. Important cooperation partners for us are also travel agencies and other distribution channels concerning accommodation and meeting services. We also offer an excellent corporate customer loyalty program, called S-Card.

In 2017 Turun Osuuskauppa, one of the cooperatives, invested in the area 17,6 M €. We use local and domestic suppliers/producers as much as possible in our services.

What services or products do you offer to other YardMate members?
The whole our network of hotels in Turku or elsewhere in Finland, in Tallinn or in St. Petersburg, is available for the members at YardMate cooperation rates, a 7 % discount off the daily rates. Rates available until the last room available in the hotel. Also online reservations through our web pages at agreed rates possible, bookable 24 h/7d.

I’m glad to help you in planning of a meeting or an event and you are warmly welcome to see the facilities on the spot as well.

To serve you with top quality, we are making big investments here in Turku: as an example, a brand-new Solo Sokos Hotel Turun Seurahuone will be opened 15.2.2019.

What are your expectations for YardMate?
Hope to find good new cooperation and networking possibilities with the member companies and their network.

What are your future needs regarding personnel?
Hospitality industry has a constant shortage of professional staff, especially in the restaurants. See our job openings here: http://rekry.tokkilainen.fi/

And regarding sub-contractors and partners?
Looking forward to be able to offer and develop interesting new solutions for the accommodation, meeting & event needs. Also looking forward to continuing the networking through YardMate events. Would also gladly offer sometimes settings for the YardMate member meeting or event.

Anything else you wish to say to us?
Very glad to be with this YardMate network! Licence to thrill! Travelling is hard job, take care of your team and partners by providing them an option to enjoy and relax!

It was a real pleasure to do the interview, Nea! And though I don’t live so far away, I am seriously considering a night at Radisson Blu. For in their mattresses the same material is being used as in NASA spaceman outfit which ideally adapts according to your weight and body temperature. And I am tempted to test…

Photos by Turun Osuuskauppa and Annika Perho