Parc Hotels Company, owner of Best Western Parc and Turist Hotels in Bucharest, has invested $10 million in arranging the two assets and is getting ready to invest another $4-6 million to modernise Turist Hotel, COO Antoni Kuhnen said.
Over eight million dollars have been invested in the Parc Hotel alone since 1998, with more than one million directed to a new conference and event centre. "Parc Event Center" comprises four multipurpose halls, the largest of which can accommodate 350 people. Parc was included in the Best Western chain in 1999 and ranked as three stars. The next development step was refurbishing a restaurant, Kuhnen said.
The Turist Hotel modernisation could therefore be delayed and begin only after the works on Parc were completed, Dan Codrean, Parc Hotels CEO, told Ziarul Financiar. Four or six million dollars will turn Turist into a two-star hotel included in another international chain, which will most likely be Howard Johnson.
On the other hand, the start of the investments could be also delayed by the war in Iraq taking longer than planned, Codrean explains. The war has, after all, impacted on Best Western Parc Hotel's business, as it primarily targets business people, Kuhnen says.
"Sales have slowed down a bit and we have fewer foreign tourists and more Romanians. Whereas 60% of our tourists were non-residents last year, the Romanian tourists have come to account for 50% of the total now," Kuhnen added. Best Western Parc registered 52% occupancy rate last year, with a room costing 70 to 120 euros. Parc Hotels last year posted approximately $6.5 million turnover and estimates to log 20% more in 2003, according to Dan Codrean. The company is part of the Alltrom Group, controlled by businessman Nicolae Badea, Dinamo Football Club chairman and his partners Radu Dimofte and Gabriel Popoviciu.
Apart from Parc and Turist the group also holds the Dorobanti and Paltinis Hotels in Bucharest and Sinaia, respectively. The two hotels will be included in the Howard Johnson chain, which Turist may also join.
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