Jonathan Soper, the new general manager of Intercontinental five-star hotel of Bucharest, says that after Prague, Vienna and Budapest, Bucharest could become the next popular European travel destination.
"Everybody has visited Paris, Rome and Madrid and now they want to see new places. They have already chosen sites witnessing strong economic growth, like Prague and Budapest, Vienna and Warsaw, and I believe Romania will be next. There are many attractions here, too; with important cultural resources waiting to be developed," says Soper.
According to Soper, the domestic market is now highly focused on business travel, which brings the largest part of the customers to Bucharestes 4 and 5-star hotels.
Over the past two years, the 4 and 5-star hotel market has witnessed significant changes as new hotels (Novotel, Phoenicia) have emerged. Some have resorted to management contracts or affiliation to international chains (Ramada, Majestic, Intercontinental, Athenee Palace Hilton, Crowne Plaza, JW Marriott), while others have undergone complex refurbishment processes (Turist, reopened under the Ramada brand).
According to Soper, Romania is quite a limited market in terms of competition, though, has potential to see significant growth in the near future. The market awaits the arrival of some internationally renowned chains, as well as new investments by the already present hotel owners.
"The next step toward development will be regional meetings and conferences followed by, the third sector, which may develop in parallel with the conference market, which would be weekend travel," says Soper.
However, from a tourist point of view, Bucharestes development perspectives are quite limited now, amid the low level of investments in infrastructure, although tourist interest could arise out of simple curiosity, says Soper.
Another possible option for Bucharest is to become an important centre for conventions, involving the network of the entire city.
Intercontinental last year launched an extensive renovation process, which could amount to 10m euros and be finalised around 2009, according estimates made by the hotel management.
Intercontinental this year targets a 10-15% growth in turnover against 2006, when turnover stood at 13m euros.
The year 2006 brought the hotel, that is part of InterContinental Hotels Group chain, a 55% turnover growth year-on-year.
Within overall 2006 revenues, the event sector posted a growth of 25%, and the hoteles average occupancy rate stood at 60%, considering that only 283 of the 423 rooms in the hotel were functional, the rest being closed as part of the renovation process.
Other hotels operating on Bucharestes 5-star hotel market include JW Marriott, Athenee Palace Hilton, Crowne Plaza, Howard Johnson and Casa Capsa.
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