Businessman Radu Enache, who controls Continental hotel chain, whose turnover stood at 27 million euros last year, plans to develop two hotels and a conference centre in Bucharest, for which he budgeted 40-45 million euros in investments.
Enache bought an 8,000 square metre plot of land near the Carol Park in Bucharest last year. The businessman did not reveal the value of this transaction, but according to ZF’s calculations based on a price of 1,000 euros per square metre, it is at least 8 million euros.
"We have already started designing the hotels, and are now obtaining the necessary consents and permits to build. Getting them may take a very long while, as has happened with the Continental hotel on Calea Victoriei. I cannot tell when construction work will begin on these hotels," Enache said.
The businessman intends to build a 200-room hotel branded as Continental Forum and a 250-room Ibis on this plot, as well as a 2,000-seat conference centre.
"Hopefully the low occupancy rate of hotels is a temporary situation, companies will have to move to do business, therefore tourist flows should stabilise. Furthermore, we are waiting to see what macroeconomic changes will be made, which could affect us," he said. Enache added he did not lack funds, which are either provided by shareholders, or come from the company’s cash flow or from other resources raised, but that there were problems on the market and in the economy.
"We have plots of land everywhere in the country, in Arad, Cluj, Iasi, Bucharest, on which we have built or intend to in order to get our money back," he stated.
Continental budgeted 30 million euros this year as investments directed towards completing the only five-star hotel of the group, the Grand Hotel Continental and opening an Ibis hotel in Sibiu, which will be launched in June.
Radu Enache is one of the most important hotel owners in Romania, along with George Copos, who owns the Ana Hotels group, Joseph Goschy, owner of the Unita chain and Mohammad Murad, who controls the Perla Majestic group. Continental is one of the hotel brands created before 1989.
The Continental hotel chain will reach sixteen hotels this year and Radu Enache wants to see it grow to more than thirty-five. Enache started this expansion plan in 2007, when he got Czech investment fund PPF involved as a shareholder and announced investments worth 135 million euros. PPF owns 40 percent of Conti Hotels, a vehicle that holds 76 percent in Continental.
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