Hanno Soravia, 50, who controls the Austrian investment group by the same name together with his brother, Erwin Soravia, says it is essential for Romania to build an image because after having seen Paris and London tourists want to see the rest of Europe, including Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia.
The Austrian millionaire owns the Metropolis Center complex on Iancu de Hunedoara Boulevard in Bucharest, where companies like DLA Piper, Advent, Parexel and Citroen operate in the 11,000 square metre office space area. The complex also includes EBRD's local office and a 78-room extended-stay hotel operated by Starlight Suiten Hotel chain, a Mega Image store and the Loft restaurant.
Two floors of the office space area totalling 2,500 square metres are empty, while the occupancy rate in the extended-stay hotel is 51%, and much lower during weekends, considering Bucharest remains a business destination.
The Austrian was in Bucharest for a day to attend the opening of the Readers coffee shop on the ground floor of the Metropolis Center. Soravia admits that having completed the Metropolis project in 2009 "the crisis was bad luck" but he hopes that the occupancy rate of the hotel to go up to 60% this year.
"It's all in the marketing. I haven't seen Romania's promotion campaign anywhere. You have to promote yourself and then tourists will come. A tourism minister should be abroad 250 days a year, attending fairs, attracting tourists (...)," Soravia says.
Hanno Soravia, 50, who controls the Austrian investment group by the same name together with his brother, Erwin Soravia, says it is essential for Romania to build an image because after having seen Paris and London tourists want to see the rest of Europe, including Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia.
The Austrian millionaire owns the Metropolis Center complex on Iancu de Hunedoara Boulevard in Bu
