The occupancy of Bucharest hotels increased by 33% in the first quarter compared with the same period of last year, and remains about 5% below the 2019 level, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
Compared to other cities in the CEE-6 region, Bucharest recorded the second-highest occupancy rate, just behind Warsaw and ahead of Budapest, Bratislava, Prague and Sofia. In addition, Bucharest has the revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the region.
Hotel industry research firm STR Global shows that the average daily rate exceeded by 35% the level achieved in Q1 2022 and by 12% the level recorded before the pandemic in Q1 2019. This was despite the recent VAT increase from 5% to 9%.
In terms of transactions, the local market recorded volumes of €44 million during 2022. Already in Q1 2023, the 4-star K+K Elisabeta hotel has been sold to Lorand and Zsuzsanna Szarvadi, the owners of the Balvanyos Resort & Spa.
Sevda Cadir, Senior Hospitality Consultant, CEE & SEE, pointed out that the investment activity should further recover in the second half of the year.
Going forward, the hotel room supply in Bucharest is expected to increase at 4.9% CAGR until 2024, primarily driven by the upscale and upper upscale properties including Swisshotel, Corinthia Grand Hotel Boulevard, Novotel Băneasa and Ibis Syles Bucharest Airport.
