Cláudia Costa Santos
Eduarda Silva
Canip Oezkul
CEO of Terra International
Having gained a degree in engineering, Canip Oezkul was certain that he wanted to have creative freedom and to write his own rules. A born entrepreneur, he started a business working in the fashion world, but after spotting a beautiful piece of land in Turkey he discovered his true vocation, and founded the company known today as Terra International. Throughout his career he has worked in more than 20 countries, always on the lookout for challenging projects and transforming Terra International into a niche within the hospitality market.
What has it been like to work in Portugal?
We arrived in Portugal at the end of 2013 and we are very happy here. This is due in part to the great success that we have achieved with Monte da Quinta, but also to the country itself and the incredible people. Portugal has shown itself to be a country with huge potential.
With more than 30 years of experience, Terra International, the management company behind Monte da Quinta Resort works to the premise «The impossible is often the untried». Would you like to comment on that?
«The impossible is often the untried» has always been our motto and one of the reasons for our success. When we acquire a new hotel or resort, all existing structures are completely dismantled, and we start from zero. Adaptation, trial and error and a large amount of experience are the cornerstones of progress. In principle, our starting point is that the idea is working and only actual experience, rather than conservative thinking, can convince us that it isn’t.
«The impossible is often the untried» has always been our motto and one of the reasons for our success»
As Terra International’s first project in Portugal, has Monte da Quinta Resort proved a success?
Monte da Quinta is a success! Over the past four years, we have consistently optimised Monte da Quinta, in all areas. Four years down the line, we have tripled the hotel’s revenue and, consequently, increased the gross operating profit.
Terra takes on hotels and resorts that are underperforming financially. What innovative solutions do you implement to turn this situation around?
Tom Peters, one of the ‘gurus’ of business management, was one of our big influencers from whom we learned how to identify, separate and overcome problems. The truth is, overcoming the problem isn’t the hard part, rather identifying it in the first place.
Peter Drucker said «do what you do best, outsource the rest», and this quote led us to implement outsourcing for the first time in the hotel industry. A major component is developing strategies to maximise performance and productivity. Another main aspect is our tailor-made property management system (PMS), which we have developed with the chief programmer for the US Airforce.
What is the company’s expansion strategy in Portugal?
For us, Terra International, Portugal is a trend destination. This country still has a lot of potential for investment in the hospitality industry. Other projects are on the way, but we can’t say more about them at this time. We can guarantee that we will expand and most probably not just in the Algarve, but we will go north in the country.
