Major hotel chains like Marriott, Hilton, Wyndham and Starwood plan to affiliate new hotels on the Romanian market, even though a number of the big hotels registered lower occupancy rates this year.

"We witnessed a 2% decline in occupancy rates, but continue to see our revenues go up. Even though the market is still on the rise, we have to take into account the fact that there are more hotels now," said Kurt Strohmayer, general manager of JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel. Marriott is in talks with developers to introduce the brands Courtyard and Renaissance in Bucharest. It also aims to open a Marriott or a Renaissance hotel in Timisoara and a Courtyard or Renaissance in Brasov. A new entry on the five-star market this year was the 424-room Radisson SAS on Calea Victoriei.

At the same time, the Hilton chain intends to expand on the Romanian market, even though the hotel on Calea Victoriei saw its take-up drop to 72% this year compared with 76% in 2007. "We've noticed a decline in the occupancy rate, but revenues are going up as initially scheduled.

The world crisis will have a lesser impact on Romania, compared with the countries in Western Europe and the market will continue to grow," said Friedrich Niemann, general manager of Athenee Palace Hilton.

For this year, he estimated an increase in revenues and profit of between 5% and 10%.

"We have six brands that we want to bring to Europe, which includes Romania, and we are looking at both the capital and other cities such as Cluj, Timisoara, Brasov and Sibiu," said Adela Cristea, development manager of Hilton for Europe and Africa.

Cristea added the medium market segment would be the most developed in Romania over the coming years.

In addition, Starwood, which owns the Le Meridien, Sheraton and Four Points brands, has announced its intention to enter the Romanian market, with a