Marriott plans to attract Romanian clients

“In 2008, we will maintain our focus on business clients, and plan to attract new clients, especially Romanian ones,” he said. The hotel had 17,000 clients last year.

According to Strohmayer, conditions for business and leisure tourism have improved in Bucharest in the past four years. “New hotels opened, such as Novotel and Howard Johnson, and further hotels are entering the market. However, the market is still strong enough, and business is still good enough to face the competition,” he said.

The main growth segment for Bucharest hotels is business tourism, as increasingly more international companies are coming to Romania. However, leisure tourism is also expected to improve, Strohmayer says. “I am sure there is an improvement in terms of facilities, of sites to be visited, which will lead to growth of the leisure segment.” However, sales on this segment are more difficult, compared to Prague and Budapest, because Romania is quite far from Western European countries, Strohmayer added.

Seven five-star hotels are operating in Bucharest: JW Marriott, Athenee Palace Hilton, Howard Johnson Grand Plaza, Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Casa Capsa, and Carol Parc.

JW Marriott posted some €38.5 million in turnover in 2006.