Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – Orbis, Poland’s only listed hotel operator, has presented its strategy till the year 2009. The company will spend PLN 725 m (EUR 186.3 m). ‘We want half of our hotels to operate in the economic segment’, Krzysztof Gerula, Orbis deputy CEO said. ‘This is a good idea. Orbis should look for new businesses’, Krzysztof Goluba, BDM PKO BP analyst commented.
Orbis will build cheap tourist hotels, which are very rare on the Polish market and which promise the fastest growth rate in the future. Accor, Orbis branch investor, has two such brands: Ibis and Etap. Till 2009, the number of Orbis hotels will increase to 82, or by 15 objects. 23 Etap and 17 Ibis hotels will build the network. ‘We will not build all the hotels. 33 are operating under the brand Orbis Hotels, and some of them will change their brand, the rest will probably be sold’, Krzysztof Gerula added.
The strategy provides for cutting jobs by 10 percent to 4,820 employees in 2009. The number of rooms will also grow by 10 percent to 13,500. The majority of funds, however, will be spent on modernisation of existing hotels. Orbis will spend PLN 301 m for this project. The company refused to make financial forecast. It only said that operating sales in hotel business will amount to PLN 701 m, and till 2009, they will increase by nearly 40 percent.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.257)Poland/Enterprises/Tourism