Outlook for hotel industry in Poland good – Orbis VP

The Vice President of Orbis hotels, Ireneusz Węgłowski, stated that in spite of the existence of some potential risk factors, he was optimistic about continued growth for the hotel industry in the country. He was speaking at a debate on Monday in Warsaw regarding the future of the industry. The debate noted some positive signs, including a Q1-Q3 increase in the revenue per available room (known as “RevPar”) in Poland of 11.4 percent, y/y, as well as increases in the number of hotels opening during the next three years in cities such as Warsaw and Gdańsk. In Warsaw 20 hotels are planned to open between 2017 and 2020, offering a total of approximately 3,000 rooms, while in Gdańsk, there are 15 planned openings, for a total of 1,500 rooms. However, Węgłowski reportedly did not shy away from pointing out some possible risk factors – including weakening GDP growth, legislation allowing for expansion of accommodation in the so-called sharing economy (i.e. Airbnb) and an oversupply of available rooms. “The supply is dangerous for the existing hotels (when) it coincides with the (GDP) downturn,” he added. In Poland, there are about 2,600 hotels, offering a total of 125,000 rooms. RevPar was noted to be a positive development for the industry across the CCE region, although it was stronger in Poland than in Czechia and Hungary, the press report stated. In Poland, the average RevPar was PLN 171.9, while the vacancy rate was 73.2 percent, an increase of two percentage points, y/y.