The year 2019 was a record one for the Prague hospitality sector in terms of transactions: the amount of investments in hospitality properties exceeded €500 million. This is the highest figure in history and twice the average for the last five years. This is also the first time that the Czech Republic has made it to the Top 10 in the European hospitality investment chart – to number nine. In 2020, the volume of hospitality transactions could become twice as high – €1 billion, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

UAE business conglomerate Al Habtoor Group is set to open a regional office in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, to service its existing European operations and scout for new investment opportunities. The group, with its wide-ranging interests in the hospitality, real estate, automotive, education and vehicle leasing sectors, plans to expand its enterprise reach in new European markets.

Israel-based international hotel chain Fattal Holdings has acquired hotels in Budapest and Bucharest, increasing the chain's portfolio to 225 hotels.

PPHE Hotel Group announced its plans to develop a new city centre hotel in Zagreb, Croatia, through its subsidiary Arena Hospitality Group d.d.

Accor has committed to join the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Tourism Organization, in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to remove all single-use plastic items in guest experience from its hotels by the end of 2022.

Christie & Co recently launched their new report focusing on the hostel markets in Vienna, Prague and Budapest. The report shows an overview of the business model itself, key characteristics, the evolution of the hostel concept and gives a deeper insight of the mentioned markets: Vienna, Prague and Budapest, in terms of demand, supply and especially branded supply.

Union Investment has agreed to acquire two planned hotel properties in Kraków and Katowice with a total of 527 rooms. The developer, vendor and future operator of the two midscale hotels, which are scheduled for completion in autumn 2021, is UBM. The purchase price of the ibis Styles-branded hotel in Kraków and Mercure-branded hotel in Katowice is approximately €86 million in total. Both leases run for 25 years.

Värde Partners, a leading global alternative investment firm, entered into a definitive agreement to sell a portfolio of eight luxury hotels operating under The Dedica Anthology brand to Covivio, a European real estate operator, through its subsidiary Covivio Hotels. The portfolio includes New York Palace and New York Residence in Budapest and Carlo IV in Prague.

Romanian bank BCR has completed the sale of the historic Oscar Maugsch Palace, located on Bucharest’s Universitatii Square, to the Luxembourg-based Vivion Investment Fund, controlled by Isaac and Amir Dayan from Israel. The value of the transaction is estimated to be between €30-35 million, according to unofficial sources quoted by Economica.net.

Accor has entered into a binding agreement to sell its 85.8% stake in Orbis to AccorInvest at a price of PLN 115 per share, corresponding to proceeds for Accor of €1.06 billion (PLN 4.55 billion), in line with Orbis’ Gross Asset Value. This completes the Orbis transaction, following the acquisition by Accor of Orbis’ Management and Franchise business last October for €286m.