International hotel chain Marriott, which operates the five-star JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel in Romania, aims to have five hotels branded as Marriott, Renaissance and Courtyard.
"In five years I believe we will have five hotels on the domestic market. The market has grown very much over the last two years; it would have been a perfect time to enter back then, but now investors are more willing to invest," said Kurt Strohmayer, general manager of Marriott Romania.
He added that Marriott was still in talks with developers to bring the Courtyard and Renaissance brands to Bucharest. The chain also plans to open a Marriott hotel in Cluj, a Marriott or a Renaissance hotel in Timisoara and a Courtyard or Renaissance hotel in Brasov. The Marriott and Renaissance hotels will have about 250 rooms, while the Courtyard will have 150 to 200 rooms. The Marriott chain is currently in talks with developers and is set to sign at least one contract by the end of the year.
"These hotels will operate under management contracts. We have very few franchises - in Italy and Moscow, and usually grant franchises only to companies we know very well," said Strohmayer, who stated that they were only interested in greenfield investments, as already existing properties are very hard to bring up to the required standards.
The Marriott Hotel in Bucharest is one of the most profitable in Europe, and is also situated among the top revenue-generating countries.
"The highest revenues come from the Marriott hotels in Moscow, followed by Paris and Bucharest, while the highest profits come from Russia, Czech Republic and Romania," Strohmayer explained. He added the Marriott Hotel in Bucharest had a record year in 2007 in terms of revenues and profit margin.
Societatea Companiilor Hoteliere Grand (SCHG), which owns Marriott Hotel in Bucharest reported 40 million
