Marriott expects slight decline

JW Marriott hotel in Bucharest, the current leader of the hotel market, expects a slight decline or to preserve its turnover at around 40 million euros, amid the financial crisis which started to affect Bucharest hotels in the second half of last year. "We expect our six-month revenues to be lower than in the same time of last year, with revenues to exceed last year's level in the second half. Overall, we could see a slight decline in revenues compared with 2008," said Kurt Strohmayer, general manager of JW Marriott. Other five-star hotels in Bucharest, such as Hilton and Howard Johnson, did not provide for rises in their 2009 budgets, either, after the second half of last year offset rises recorded in the January-June period, with most hotel operators having budgets lower than initially forecast. Apart from the financial crisis, an important factor was also the rise in the market's capacity, after the entry on the market of Radisson SAS hotel on Calea Victoriei, with 424 rooms.