Romania: hotels work hard on unwelcoming market

-* Population : 21,8 million -* Area : 238 391 sq. km -* GDP : $236,9 billion in 2011 -* Nb tourists: 6 million in 2010O verall occupancy rates in the hotel industry in Bucharest stand below 70 per cent, market players say, but the fight to attract guests is still as lively as in pre-crisis times, with international hotel chains looking at either extending locally or improving their internal infrastructure. One of the main differences between the Romanian and European hotel markets consists in the presence of brands, many of which are still missing. “There are some major hotels that want to join Romania?s market, but they want to find the perfect time to do it,” says Igael Porecki, general manager of JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel. With the onset of the financial crisis, hospitality chain extension is rare in Europe, specialists say. But when it actually comes to expansion on the Romanian market, many investors prefer to rebrand an existing hotel rather than building it from scratch. “Speaking about hotel chains, I believe the Romanian market is quite a virgin one, and there is a lot of space for international chains to develop here,” says Daniel Ben-Yehuda, general manager of Ramada Plaza Bucharest & Ramada Bucharest Parc. “Due to the crisis, there are not many new projects being built. Investors have to try to develop by taking over an existing hotel and renaming it. This is what we will be seeing soon.”Expected income is an important aspect which investors emphasise when looking for a country to develop a brand. “The market is fragile and unstable, and investors might be afraid that the return will be low or non-existing,” says Franz Rattenstetter, general manager of Crowne Plaza Bucharest. “We have some brands missing in Bucharest: there is...