The Prague hospitality market is recovering, with most hotels reporting an increase in occupancy levels in 2013, according to research by Labartt Hospitality. There are a number of factors that contributed to this trend, including improving conditions on European markets and the intervention of the Czech central bank, which weakened the crown against the euro in November. Increased tourist numbers and investment into hotel quality also helped.
Average occupancy increased 1.5 percent y-o-y, hitting pre-crisis levels, while the number of rooms has also increased by 4,000 since 2007. Labartt considers this a major success.
Occupancy levels increased the most at high-end five-star hotels. Preliminary numbers by the Czech Statistical Office indicate a record number of tourists visited the Czech Republic last year. Final data will be available in the spring. Hotel operators welcomed the central bank’s intervention, and are looking forward to the 2014 high season. The majority of hotels report income in euros and costs in Czech crowns. “This increases the operating profits,” says Ondřej Zajíc, senior manager at Labartt Hospitality.
