Evolution of 3, 4 and 5 star hotels in Bucharest in Q1

The hotel Crowne Plaza in Bucharest, 5 star classified, owned by George Copos businessman, reported a turnover decrease by approximately 19% in the first quarter of the current year, compared to the same period last year.

The occupancy in the first three months of the year was of 50%, increasing by 5% compared to the similar period last year.

The unit expects a slightly increase, once the summer season begins, mainly due to private events.

In the first quarter of the year, the hotel maintained tariffs at the level of the last quarter of 2009.

Howard Johnson Grand Plaza hotel in Bucharest, 5 star classified, posted an increase by 4-5% in occupancy, compared to the same period last year, thus reaching 45% in the first four months of 2010.

F&B segment maintained relatively stable in the first months of 2010, both for business and private events, accounting for more than 40% of the total revenues of Howard Johnson hotel.

Sonia Nastase, General Manager of Howard Johnson Grand Plaza, stated that the hotel registered increases up to 5% in April, compared to the similar period of the previous year. 

JW Marriott Hotel Bucharest, 5 star classified, reported in the first trimester of the year an increase by 4% in occupancy, compared to the similar period last year.

Meda Vasiliu, Sales Manager of the hotel, stated that the individual business segment slightly recovered, but market demand is below last year level and has not fully recovered. She also specified that conference and corporate segment should also recover, in order for the market to operate properly.

Moreover, the tariffs of JW Marriott hotel were lower than the tariffs applied in the same period last year.

The evolution of F&B segment is not eloquent for JW Marriott, as the conference halls and Vienna Lounge cafe were closed for a month and a half for renovation works.

Golden Tulip Times hotel, 4 star classified, was one of the few units on the market in the capital tempting to apply higher tariffs starting 2010.

Costina Gandac, General Manager of the hotel, stated that the unit registered 48.6% occupancy in the first quarter of the year, declining by approximately 2% compared to the last year. Therefore, the hotel decided to increase tariffs by 6 to 10% from the beginning of the year, in order to compensate the lower occupancy. 

On F&B segment the unit reported a decrease by approximately 7-8% compared to the similar period in 2009.

For the current year, Golden Tulip Times forecasts EUR 2 mil. turnover, increasing by approximately 10% compared to the previous year and 55% occupancy, increasing by 3-4% compared to 2009.

Although the average occupancy slowly increased in the first three-four months of the year, the revenue per available room, RevPAR continued to decrease in the first quarter.

Sorin Ionescu, Managing Partner of hotel consulting company Fivestar Hospitality, stated that, in average, RevPar of 3, 4 and 5 star hotels decreased in every of the first three months of the current year, as follows: from EUR 23 in January 2009 down to EUR 21 in January 2010, from EUR 30 in February 2009 to EUR 27 in February 2010 and from EUR 35 in March 2009 down to EUR 30 in March 2010.

Under these circumstances, the market is not likely to recover sooner than the beginning of 2011, stated Ionescu, according to whom, the market will maintain in the same parameters, within the next period.

The Fivestar Hospitality representative stated that hotel owners will manage to report a slightly higher occupancy by the end of the current year, compared to the previous year, but only as a result of maintaining lower current tariffs. The market recovery means a higher demand and only from that moment on, higher tariffs could be applied.

Hotel owners in the capital, who focused almost exclusively on corporate segment, should also consider the leisure segment, stated Ionescu, adding that the leisure segment, neglected before the crisis started, should be considered seriously by hotel owners and also supported by Bucharest city hall, who should develop programs for foreign tourists.

Sursa: Wall-Street [13.05.2010]