May 10 (SeeNews) - The capacity of four- and five-star hotels in Sofia is expected to grow by 45% by the end of 2020, Forton, a strategic partner of Cushman&Wakefield for Bulgaria and Macedonia, said on Wednesday.
The supply of luxury hotel rooms is expected to grow considerably as a result of the planned Hyatt, Swissotel and Millenium Centre projects, Forton said in a hotel market report.
The four- and five-star hotels increased their revenues in 2016, on the back of growing number of passengers at Sofia Airport, increasing interest toward the Bulgarian capital as a tourist destination and the limited number of new projects on the market.
In 2016, projects in the five-star category have achieved a 3% rise in the average occupancy rate and 4% higher room revenue compared to 2015. The four-star hotel occupancy rate has increased by 8% and the revenue growth per room was 4% higher in 2016.
"The hospitality market in Sofia is growing steadily and this trend is supported by the interest of large international operators in the market. We expect that the upcoming EU presidency in 2018 will further support the growth of the market," Mihaela Lashova, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Forton, said in the statement.
Bulgaria will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2018 for the first time since joining the bloc in 2007.
In June, Bulgaria's tourism ministry said that US-based international hotel operator Hyatt plans to open its first hotel in Bulgaria in 2018. The Hyatt Regency hotel will be built in the central part of the Bulgarian capital, at the site of a former cinema theater.
In 2015, Switzerland-based Swissotel said it had agreed with Garanti Koza to operate a hotel that will be part of the Turkish firm's Grand Kanyon project in Sofia. Works on the project started in April and is is expected to be completed in the summer of 2020.
Millenium Centre project, which is currently under construction, will also include a five-star hotel.