Warsaw – The budget and economy hotel sector, which operates under international hotel chains in Poland is set to grow by over 50% over the next two years, in developments highlighted yesterday at the 3rd Annual hotel real estate investment conference in Poland. The growth was the focus of discussions during a panel session, hosted by Janusz Mitulski; Partner at Horwath HTL Poland entitled “Business Economy Hotels – New Trends”. Janusz was joined by Rune Askevold, President of the Management Board, Puro Hotels, Jim Murphy, CEO, PREM Group, David Heijligers, Development Manager, Louvre Hotels Group in Poland and Krzysztof Potocki, President of the Board, B&B Hotels.

The group looked at the impact that a new breed of budget and economy hotels operating under international hotel brands, would have on the market place. In purely supply terms, the hotel sector of branded hotels would be growing from 29 hotels with 3,816 rooms to 45 hotels with 5,971 rooms an increase of 64%. Horwath HTL Poland predicted that even bigger growth could be achieved, as announcements for new hotel development in those segments is expected.

However, the discussion was not only confined to pure growth numbers, which given the potential size of the market in Poland was not considered by the panel to be have a damaging effect on occupancy, but the style of these new hotels and the amenities that they offer. The greatest potential for these new hotels, and subsequently the greatest threat to existing hotel supply, lay in the modern amenities, like wireless Internet access, that these new hotels would feature. Something that older budget and economy hotels would struggle to compete with.

Janusz Mitulski said, “We believe that it is positive for the Polish hotel market in general that these new kinds of budget and economy hotels are being built, and that this shows real confidence by developers and international chains in the potential for growth. Poland has lagged behind other European countries in internationally branded hotels and especially these new kinds of budget and economy hotels that have excellent amenities and modern design. These are the kinds of hotels that modern travellers have come to expect and there is a huge potential for these hotels to pick up a latent demand in the market. On the face of it, such a large percentage increase could be detrimental to occupancy levels, but as the branded hotel supply is relatively low, we believe that there is elasticity in the market to absorb the new rooms.”

About Horwath HTL

Horwath HTL (Hotels Tourism and Leisure) is one of the world’s pre-eminent consulting specialists in the hotel, tourism and leisure industries, providing unequalled experience and expertise for client projects around the world through a combination of detailed local knowledge and international understanding. Horwath HTL is currently the world’s largest consulting organization specialized in hospitality, with 50 offices in 39 countries.

Horwath HTL is a member of Crowe Horwath International, a professional association of accounting and management consulting firms founded in New York in 1915. Crowe Horwath International is currently ranked among the top ten international professional service groups with offices in close to 586 cities in 108 countries.

If you have any questions, please contact James Chappell, Global Director of Marketing on [email protected]

About the 3rd Annual Hotel Investment Conference

Eurobuild Conferences" is part of "Eurobuild CEE"() , a media company based in Warsaw with offices around Central & Eastern Europe. It was set up in 1998 and publishes Eurobuild CEE magazine, a monthly publication covering the CEE region’s real estate and construction industry, as well as a daily newsletter. With a print run of 70,000, the magazine is the region’s leading industry publication. In over 10 years Eurobuild Conferences has organized about 170 conferences in Poland and abroad, attracting leading business figures as speakers and participants.

James Chappell
Global Business Director
Horwath