Ultima Collection kicked off 2024 with the appointment of Petar Krstic as CEO and Sven Flory as CCO, and as new management, the duo is ringing in changes and pushing an expansion agenda. “If we don’t have a property in the Middle East in the next three to five years, I haven’t done my job,” laughs Krstic during an interview with TTN.
“We are bringing on lots of seasoned industry leaders; we very much feel like it’s a new dawn or a rebirth of the company,” he adds.
Ultima Collection’s ultra-luxury portfolio includes residences, chalets, private villas and luxury hotels spread across 10 premier destinations in Switzerland, France and Greece. The changes being brought to the table include an overhaul of the prime facilities. “One of the things that we’re doing is we are softening up the aesthetic of the properties. Physically speaking, we are not doing major renovations. We are changing out the artwork, the lighting, the curation, the furniture. We are reupholstering the furniture in more refined materials. So, there’s a whole project going on where we’re doing that in all 10 of our properties,” he adds.
NEW RESIDENCES
And, of course, there are additions planned for the brand’s portfolio over the next year or so. Ultima collection has announced the addition of three new properties across Switzerland. These include Ultima Geneva Quai Wilson and Ultima Gstaad Promenade (which have recently been welcomed into The Set Collection as member hotels), and Ultima Cologny (2025). These new ventures are poised to further cement Ultima Collection’s reputation in the luxury market.
Ultima Quai Wilson, located on the southwest shore of Lac Leman, is a collection of five private full-floor apartments. In Gstaad, where the group started in 2016, and with a prime position right on the Promenade, Ultima Gstaad Promenade is set to be the biggest and most luxurious private chalet in the village. And next year Ultima Cologny is scheduled to join the roster of impressive properties with two lake-side villas.
REBRANDING: BESPOKE IS A GIVEN
In addition to these projects, the company itself is on the path to rebrand. “The core of Ultima is not changing. What is at the core of Ultima is an experience that is reserved for a very select few. The experience comprises moments of joy spent with their loved ones, with their friends in an environment that is only theirs, where the word bespoke is a given. Really what we’re trying to do with the rebrand and the redesign is, we’re just trying to communicate better,” explains Krstic.
One of the places the company is considering expanding to is Dubai. “I think Dubai would make the most sense for us. And then we would also love to have something in Saudi because so many of our guests are from there, I think it would really make a lot of sense.”
A reason for the popularity of the Ultima properties, he explains, is the offerings cater to large, multi-generational groups. “About 60 per cent of our guests come from the GCC and that’s because our product is so well-suited for the GCC guest. These aren’t five-bedroom villas or four-bedroom villas. These are 8, 10, 15, 20-room villas. Middle Eastern families are large and multi-generational travel is kind of the norm, and then there’s the entourage of the valets and the service people, their personal teams. So, it’s a product that’s really well designed for affluent GCC travellers.”
SOURCE OF BOOKINGS
Most bookings, i.e. around 80 per cent, for these impressive buildings come through B2B players. And so to make them more appealing to agents, Ultima has generous commission incentives. For bookings made through B2B channels, the company offers a standard commission rate of up to 15 per cent for travel agencies and up to 20 per cent for wholesalers. Furthermore, agents have the option to increase their commission by applying for an additional 5 per cent discount, which can be either passed on to clients or retained by the agency.