We organize in-depth webinars related to real estate investing. In addition to the founder and CEO of Samla Capital, Samppa Lajunen, the webinars feature guest industry experts. Follow this page and sign up for our free webinars!
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OCTOBER Tue 10.10.2023 at 11.00–12.00
The popularity of luxury tourism is increasing. Hotels are still a new type of real estate investment for many, but it has enormous potential internationally. Is there enough demand for luxury travel in the Nordic countries? What kind of destination is Helsinki and Finland from this aspect? What kind of opportunities does The Hotel Maria offer to a professional investor?
We will answer these questions in our free webinar with our guest speakers Christian Kielgast, Partner at Nordic Hotel Consultings, and Heli Mende, Commercial Director of The Hotel Maria, with the founder and CEO of Samla Capital Samppa Lajunen giving insights to investors on The Hotel Maria-project.
The webinar will be held at 10AM CEST (UTC +3), which is 11AM in Finland.
Christian Kielgast, Partner, NHC: “The Luxury Hotel Markets – How is the market developing and what is the future insight of the Luxury Hotel Markets in the Nordics?”
Christian Kielgast is a partner and has been an integral part of building up and expanding NHC since joining the company in 2008. His main area of activity is advising investors on hotel transactions, development projects including operator searches and contract negotiations as well as M&A advisory. Over the years, Christian has advised on hotel transactions and development projects with a combined aggregate value in excess of 3 billion EUR. Christian is based on NHC’s Copenhagen office but is active across the Nordics and coordinates cross-border clients and projects. Christian is an Honors graduate from the prestigious hotel management school Ecôle Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) in Switzerland.
Heli Mende, Commercial Director, The Hotel Maria: “Luxury Travel in Finland: What is Luxury Travel in Helsinki and Finland?”
Heli Mende is the Commercial Director of The Hotel Maria. Before joining The Hotel Maria team, she was the Head of Visit Finland North America based in New York City. Prior to this position she has worked as Director of Global Sales Promotion being responsible for all Visit Finland global B2B activities, as Stopover Finland program director, and as senior advisor and senior consultant at Finpro advising and consulting Finnish tourism and hospitality businesses in internationalisation. Heli has also gained extensive international experience in her previous positions within the travel industry in operations, sales, marketing and general management in airline, hospitality, and travel agency businesses. She is passionate about developing luxury services in Finland.
Samppa Lajunen, Founder and CEO, Samla Capital: “The New Era of Luxury travel in Helsinki – Case: The Hotel Maria”
With the three Olympic Games gold medals in the Nordic Combined, and the completed university level business studies, Samppa Lajunen wanted to establish his own fund management company. He worked in the Finnish banking sector and made investments through his family company and saved capital until the time was right. In 2015 Samppa founded Samla Capital Oy. Today, it manages four funds with real estate strategies that have created returns for their 400 investors. Professionalism was a lesson the three-time Olympic champion had to learn at a very early age. Today, the goal of professionalism is built into real estate investor Samla’s corporate culture. The fund managed by Samla Capital owns the properties of The Hotel Maria, and the hotel will realize a vision and a dream of a true luxury hotel in Helsinki.
