Bucharest's hosting of the NATO summit, an event that will to bring together 3,000 delegates and 48 heads of state and government, at a cost of around 35m dollars, could bring the Capital's hotel owners the biggest revenues in recent years, with 80% of major hotels' rooms already reserved for this event.
"Hotels will have a 100% occupancy rate as most of them have allocated 70%-80% of their capacities for this event. (...) Chances are that most hotels will see their revenues skyrocket. I am certain that almost every hotel will register its highest ever revenues," says Mioara Gheorghe, marketing and sales manager at the five-star Crowne Plaza hotel. The hotel is part of the portfolio of Ana Hotels, a company controlled by businessman George Copos. The cost of a double room at the Crowne Plaza stands at 220 euros per night.
Another hotel expected to profit from this event is the Howard Johnson owned by Grand Plaza and controlled by businessman Gabriel Popoviciu.
"Around 80% of the hotel's capacity will be occupied for the NATO summit. We are likely to witness a slight increase against April 2006. I'm saying this because we expect our guests to account for an increase in accommodation, but not for the rest of our services, such as the restaurant and bar," stated Gratiela Badicu, marketing and sales manager at the Howard Johnson Grand Plaza five-star hotel. The travel agency designated to accommodate the guests is Vacanta, which also won last year's tender for the francophony summit. The company's representatives decided not to comment on their involvement in the organisation of this event.
"JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel is one of the hotels involved in the organisation of this very important event. (...)," says Dina Litzica, PR manager with the biggest five-star hotel in Bucharest.
Bucharest's five-star hotel market includes the Intercontinental, JW Marriott, Crowne Plaza, Howard Johnson, Casa Capsa, Athenee Palace Hilton and the recently opened Carol hotel. In total, the Capital's 7 hotels have around 1,600 rooms. Other hotels with lower star ratings are also expected to accommodate around half of the guests visiting for the NATO summit.
In 2006, Bucharest's six five-star hotels registered a consolidated turnover worth 335m RON (95m euros) at the end of the year, up around 8% against 2005, according to the data from the Finance Ministry. For H1, 2007, most of the five-star hotels registered around 10% increases amid a rise in business travel.
Besides the lack of leisure travel, the Bucharest hotel market also has to cope with a limited amount of available accommodation, which leads to price hikes.
According to recent surveys, an average rate per room in Bucharest is 30% higher than in Bratislava, Budapest or Sofia. In addition, Bucharest hotels' occupancy rate is advancing at the fastest pace in Europe.
Bucharest's five-star hotels
Could see their revenues skyrocket during the Capital's hosting of the NATO summit, with a large majority of rooms allocated for this event
Bucharest's five-star hotel market includes Intercontinental, JW Marriott, Crowne Plaza, Howard Johnson, Casa Capsa, Athenee Palace Hilton and the recently opened Carol hotel
According to Finance Ministry data, the hotels registered an overall turnover worth 335m RON (95m euros) in 2006, up around 8% against 2005
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