February 22 (SeeNews) - Polish-listed hotel group Orbis said on Monday it will expand its portfolio of hotels in Bulgaria with two new additions in Sofia city centre as of the fourth quarter of 2017.
"The two hotels are owned by Bulgarian Markan Holding [...] The hotels will be operated by Orbis Hotel Group, in accordance with a contract that has been signed," Orbis said in a press release.
The statement said that the two hotels, under the Novotel and the ibis brands, will be housed in one and the same building with two separate entrances and reception desks, but provided no information about the current state of the building. However, industry sources told SeeNews that Markan has acquired a land plot in central Sofia and is in the process of starting construction of the combined hotel.
"Bulgaria is a promising market with great potential for international hotel brands and it is an important element of our development strategy. We have a clear ambition - to develop our network of hotels and to become leaders on the Bulgarian market," said Gilles Clavie, president and CEO of Orbis Hotel Group.
The four-star Novotel Sofia Centre and the three-star ibis Sofia Centre will have 150 and 100 rooms, respectively.
Presently, Orbis operates two hotels in Bulgaria - Novotel Sofia and ibis Sofia Airport.
In January 2015, Orbis signed an agreement with its strategic shareholder AccorHotels to acquire 46 of its hotels in six countries in Central and Eastern Europe and to operate its hotels in 16 countries in the region (including among others Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia).
The Orbis Hotel Group is the largest network of hotels in Poland and in Eastern Europe, comprising more than 100 properties. It offers a total of nearly 19,000 rooms. The hotels operate under the brand names Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, ibis, ibis Styles, and ibis budget.