Sebesanu, Trend Hospitality: January 2009, weakest month of the past 10 years for the hotel market

Tinu Sebesanu (photo), CEO of Trend Hospitality, the strategic development partner in Romania of Wyndham US hotel chain including Howard Johnson and Ramada brands, believes Bucharest's hotel market will experience another decline of around 10% this year amid the financial crisis. "In 2009, we expect a new drop of 10% from 2008. In Bucharest, 75% of traffic is represented by incoming tourism, and at the moment companies cut their budgets, we felt a decline. Overall, traffic fell by 12% in 2008 from 2007 for Bucharest hotels, and stays shortened from 1.7-1.8 nights to less than 1.2 nights," said Sebesanu, who believes that this decline coupled with the higher capacity available on the market starting 2008, will inclusively lead to bankruptcies. Several hotels on the market, among which Howard Johnson, Crowne Plaza, Hilton and JW Marriott, witnessed a lower demand level in the last months of 2008 and have not budgeted any increases for 2009, but they do not foresee any significant declines. According to Sebesanu, though, the market is experiencing an unprecedented slump and will rebound in about two years. "January has been the weakest month of the past ten years, with occupancy rates standing at below 30%. The drop against January 2008 amounted to at least 10%," Sebesanu said. Another effect of the crisis effect could be a price war in a bid to lure customers.