A survey, prepared by Cushman & Wakefield in partnership with FIHR, targeting Romanian hoteliers was launched in April 2020 to understand the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic holds on the commercial lodging industry. The survey asses the ways in which business have been affected while identifying the critical factors to prevail from the crisis. Cushman & Wakefield and FIHR remain committed towards ensuring that the industry receives appropriate support by collecting and analysing available data and appealing to authorities.

The hotel investment market in Poland is still relatively immature. In an average year, the city of Berlin alone receives twice the number of hotel transactions than Poland as a whole. However, Poland has developed a strong track record in other commercial real estate sectors and, as a result, has an even stronger brand for investing. This has laid down the foundations for global capital to enter the hotel sector, and, indeed, there has been an uptick in the number of international hotel investors actively pursuing opportunities in Poland.

Accor has signed a management agreement with Alexandra Residence Design to open 144-room ibis hotel by the end of 2022. The newly signed hotel will be located near the future Terminal 2 of Henri Coandă International Airport in Bucharest. Est Hospitality Consulting is the consultant of the project until its official opening while Cumulus Architecture is responsible for the design.

Romania’s largest hotel chain, Continental Hotels and French hotel group Accor have decided to terminate the management agreement signed 20 years ago for four hotels. According to the mutual agreement, starting with July 1, 2020, four hotels owned by Continental Hotels (Ibis Gara de Nord, Ibis Parlament, Ibis Constanta and Ibis Sibiu) will no longer operate under the Ibis brand, profit.ro reports.

Radisson Hotel Group announced the opening of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Sopot and the Radisson Hotel Szklarska Poręba, bringing its portfolio to 14 properties in operation in Poland.

Lithuanian group Apex Alliance Hotel Management plans to open the new Moxy Bucharest Old Town hotel on July 20. The total investment cost of the hotel equals €12.5 million.

Although plans related to the introduction of new projects will now be thoroughly verified, investors' interest in the hotel sector in Poland is still high. The latest report by consulting company Walter Herz shows that the number of categorized hotel facilities in Poland has increased by over 30% since 2012.

A new weekly EMEA COVID-19 research report from Cushman & Wakefield, 'COVID-19 Impacts For EMEA Real Estate', outlines the sweeping impact the COVID-19 crisis is having on the European hotel market in 2020.

A new report on the hotel investment scene in CEE reveals that in 2019 the CEE6 markets were rapidly catching up with their western neighbours, both in terms of investment volumes and sophistication. The second annual report by Cushman & Wakefield and international law firm CMS explores the underlying investment trends across CEE6 countries and looks at the various innovations that have shaped the hotel industry in recent years.

Marriott is closing food and beverage outlets, reducing staff and closing floors or even entire hotels due to the extremely low levels of occupancy across the world. The company has also temporarily deferred most brand standards to help owners and franchisees, including delaying renovations due in 2020 by one year, deferring required furniture, fixtures and equipment funding and suspending brand standard audits.