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Large hotel chains expand to Romania, mainly in big cities

Large hotel chains - Hilton, Starwood and Wyndham - will enter the Romanian market or will expand especially on the segment of three or four-star in the big cities, according to participants in the Hospitality Trends conference, organized in Bucharest.

'Hilton is eying with interest secondary cities, such as Cluj, Timisoara, Sibiu or Brasov in order to open hotels on the medium range segment because demand is significant. As well, we must take into account that there are many hotels which have no brand and therefore represent the means to enter a city or another, as well. We do not ignore some other zones, such as the Black Sea shore or the mountains', said Adela Cristea, development director Hilton Hotels, Europe and Africa.

Wyndham, too, present in Romania through Ramada or Howard Johnson brands, is targeting secondary cities, being already present in Brasov, Sibiu and Iasi with hotels under the Ramada brand.

One of the hotel industry giants Starwood estimates it will enter the Romanian market till this year-end.

'Till this year-end, we hope to enter the Romanian market. For the time being, we concentrate on the important city centers, we do not think that seasonal tourism on the Black Sea or in the mountain zones would present a major interest for us', pointed out Vincent Levy, director of acquisitions and development Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

The company plans for the Romanian market include three hotels in Bucharest, two in the median-upper category and a luxury one, among targeted brands being Sheraton and Le Meridien, as well as a hotel in Cluj.

An American business hotels chain, Dolce Hotels, also plans to enter Romania. 'We take Bucharest into account, where we can open a business hotel, with leisure and spa services, because the market is a very interesting one', said Philippe Attia, vice-president Dolce Hotels & Resorts.

But investors are confronted with the difficulty of finding some viable land in the cities' centers, a rise in construction costs, as well as the difficulty of attracting financing. As well, the profit margins were reduced due to an increase in the utilities costs, of the exchange rate fluctuation and of inflation.

The three-star hotels will know an important development in Bucharest in the period to come, the opening of some luxury brands, such as Ritz or Regent, being postponed for the moment because of the global economic climate. In Bucharest, the market of five-star hotels is currently divided between eight hotels, Marriott, Radisson SAS, Hilton, Intercontinental, Howard Johnson, Crowne Plaza, Casa Capsa and Carol Park, so that demand on this segment is estimated as covered in the upcoming four years, with greater demand on the four, three and one-star hotels segments.

Sursa: http://www.rompress.ro

Tags: hotels bucharest market enter romania cities hotel

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