Booking.com opens first customer call centre in the Baltics

On May 15, 2018, Booking.com celebrated the official opening of the first call centre in the Baltic region to support Booking.com customers and partners. The Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Lithuania, Virginijus Sinkevičius attended a private event with other VIP guests from Invest Lithuania to officially welcome Booking.com to the 3,940-square-metre customer service facility in the brand new Technopolis Penta building in Vilnius.

This newest call centre has been opened in order to support Booking.com’s award-winning 24/7 service to guests and accommodation partners through a variety of channels, including incoming calls, e-mails and messaging. This is Booking.com’s ninth customer service centre in Europe and the eighteenth globally. Booking.com currently employs more than 8,000 customer service agents globally through its local support entities.

Spread over two floors, the new Booking.com customer service centre is the first of its kind in the Baltics. The office theme, created by architect Arnold Schoordijk from ATC Schoordijk Interieurontwerp, a global architecture, design, and planning firm, draws on different elements of Lithuanian culture, history and nature for inspiration. Quotes from Lithuanian writers feature throughout the office while colors and artwork inspired by the country’s forests and seas as well as the artistic area of Uzupis in Vilnius, have been used in meeting rooms and team areas. Coffee and relaxation spaces make use of wood, reminiscent of traditional Lithuanian houses, to create a warm, collaborative and inclusive atmosphere.

“When we were looking for the perfect place to open our next customer service centre in Europe, we wanted to make sure that we found a vibrant location that could provide us with the multilingual talent we need to support our growing global business,” said Alessandro Rotelli, Regional Director Customer Service EMEA, at Booking.com. “Vilnius has proved to be an excellent choice and we are very much looking forward to continuing to expand our employee base in this beautiful new office.”

Also present during the official opening event today were representatives from Invest Lithuania, whose team of experienced business advisors assisted Booking.com with finding the right location for their new customer service centre.

“It was a huge pleasure to help Booking.com – a truly global company – choose Vilnius for their next global location,” said Mantas Katinas, Managing Director at Invest Lithuania. “Today, we are proud and happy to welcome them to the ever-growing Lithuanian business community. As we have seen with other global business centres, after setting up they fast become highly desirable places to work. There is no doubt that Booking.com will follow this positive trend as well.”

The executive team from Technopolis, the largest office complex in Lithuania were also on hand to welcome Booking.com to their brand new customer service facility.

“The place of work in Technopolis is characterised not only by the premises equipped with state-of-the-art technology, but also by everything that is beneficial to overall well-being. People working in our office matter the most. We are pleased that we were able to meet the needs of Booking.com. Technopolis has offered one-stop services for this international company: from repairs and installation of premises to staff catering, coffee machines and plant care services. We kindly believe, that everyone in this area will feel comfortable, inspired and efficient”, said Lina Maskoliūnė, Business Unit Director, Technopolis Lietuva.

The customer and partner support team in Vilnius already totals more than 100 employees providing service in a variety of languages, including Russian, German, English, Polish, Estonian, and of course, Lithuanian. With plans to hire at least another 100 employees before the end of 2018 and a projected 900 employees over the next four to five years, there are several open positions available, including operational management roles, as well as front-line customer and partner service positions to work with Booking.com’s customers and business partners around the world. Interested applicants are invited to apply directly via www.workingatbooking.com.