In Austria, near the village where part of my family lives, there is an amazing self-sustainable, non-loss and non-dividend company called “The Magdas Hotel”. This project has two main goals: To give work to refugees and help them to integrate into Austrian society through education, and to raise awareness in society about the problem of refugees and their potential to work and contribute.

In Europe, there is a major migrant and humanitarian crisis. One of the main challenges refugees are facing when trying to integrate into reception countries is finding work. The Magdas Hotel is trying to change the perspective or idea that society, in general, has of refugees. They defend the idea that if given work, refugees will not live off benefits and that in the long term they will bring value to society and contribute to the country’s economy. The hotel’s philosophy is to be a meeting place between staff and tourists, i.e., a meeting point between different cultures and traditions. That is why the refugees bring so much value to this company. The guests like the fact that they speak to them in their language and make them feel at home. Moreover, multicultural settings are enriching in the sense that there is greater creativity and initiative thanks, in this case, to their need to survive. The workers can insert better practices from their previous experiences in other studies or jobs into the reality of a hotel, and the diversity of people’s origins can help to meet the needs of a multicultural clientele.

All these things add value and set this hotel apart from the others. In these kinds of teams, people are often more open and tolerant and more ready to learn and improve. In fact, this Austrian region widely knows this hotel for having extraordinarily attentive and welcoming staff. Finally, the fact that it is a social project is something that, in general, people like. Magda’s Hotel has a book where customers can write reviews before they leave, one of them said: “This hotel is not about appearance: it’s full of substance and depth!”.

Magda’s Hotel is a real case of social innovation, this project included sustainability already in the designing process. Convenience is reached through the fact that their simple decoration is compensated by the feeling of being at home. In terms of marketing differentiation, the message should embrace their competitive advantage: their multiculturality and strongly motivated employees. And, finally, in terms of customer cost and pricing, I would dare to say that they shouldn’t be afraid of setting slightly higher prices than the market: they have strong sustainability and credibility linked to their product and, as stated before, their customers largely appreciate their social contribution.