Poland lacks two- and three-star hotels with moderate prices, but preparations for EURO 2012 will contribute to development of this market segment – in the assessment of hotel sector experts.

- Poland lacks hotels with reasonable prices. We need first of all good two- and three-star hotels – said on Monday Józef Ratajski, the deputy chairman of the Polish Chamber of Tourism (PIT). This opinion is shared by Andrzej Saja of Chamber of Commerce of Polish Hotel Industry (IGHP).

According to the ministry of economy, the biggest benefits from hosting of EURO 2012 will be derived by undertakings in construction and tourism sectors – both the contractors and suppliers of building materials.

Experts stress that investments in the construction of hotels should also take into account the situation of the tourism market after 2012.

- In early 1990ties Poland had 600 hotels; currently there are over 1,320 categorized hotel facilities. In the recent years about 50 hotels were built annually in Poland - said Andrzej Szafrański, the author of the report “Report on the Hotel Market, Investments in Poland in 2007”. After announcement of the UEFA decision on hosting of EURO 2012 by Poland, investors announced their intention to build almost 220 new facilities. Our forecasts predict PLN 2 billion annually of investments in the hotel base – Szafrański continued. – As of today in the entire Mazowieckie voivodeship we have 145 hotels, including 60 in the capital city. This number is definitely insufficient to meet the needs of such an event as EURO 2012 – he added.

UEFA calculated that 70 new hotels should be constructed within a radius of 75 kilometres from Poznań.

The largest hotel chains are already getting ready for investments. The hotel facilities will be built wherever areas allocated to servicing functions are located.

Orbis Company is planning to build 33 one- and two-star hotels with the total capacity of 3,600 rooms by 2010. They will be constructed in such cities as Gdańsk, Gdynia, Katowice, Krakow, Poznań, Wrocław and Warsaw. Orbis will allocate PLN 500 million for this project.

Hilton intends to build over 10 hotels in the forthcoming five years. One of them is likely to be built in Poznań. Radisson chain and the Spanish Alstan Group chain also want to deploy investments in this city.

Sheraton is currently building a hotel in Sopot. There are also plans to expand the hotels located near airports.

Source: Głos Wielkopolski