Social Business For Refugees
Contrary to popular opinion, Clemens Foschi is not an architect. Foschi, who has already worked as a restaurant proprietor, market researcher, and filmmaker, prefers to be a social entrepreneur and was the project manager of magdas Hotel, Vienna’s first social business hotel.
Twenty refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Iraq, and other countries live and work here and are thereby given the chance to make a start in Austria’s labor market. The project is a part of a social business strategy of Caritas Services GmbH, where Clemens Foschi, a graduate of Vienna University of Economics and Business, is a business manager.
magdas Hotel is located close to the Prater park in Vienna and opens its doors on February 14, 2015. There are 80 rooms, but it also provides services like bicycle rental and a library and serves as a venue for events and encounters. Foschi says that the price for a double room is on average about 70 EUR per night. The building previously accommodated a nursing home; the renovation into a hotel was partly financed through crowdfunding.
We visited Clemens Foschi in magdas Hotel to learn more about him and the project.
Please press CC for English subtitles!
