Mercure Debrecen has opened and is already full
– A developing city needs hotels. Debrecen has also recently been the location of several prestigious international sports events. That is why it is important for the city to be able to present itself as a host that can provide high-quality service in all areas of tourism, said the head of the ministry.
After many years
– We can celebrate a real gap-filling investment today, since the last time we held a really high-quality, large-scale hotel inauguration was 10-12 years ago. It was timely for significant progress to be made again in hotel development, said László Papp. The mayor of Debrecen emphasized that one of the major challenges of the urban city is to balance the development between its areas. That is why it is important that, in addition to strengthening the economy, new opportunities also open up in the field of tourism investments. – Before the pandemic, the number of guest nights in Debrecen was about 509 thousand. In the first half of this year, we reached 300,000, so we can be confident that we will reach the numbers of 2019 again, he emphasized. He also added that Debrecen’s strength is event tourism, the city has many internationally renowned events, and their visitors are looking for quality accommodation.
– We have come to the end of a development that is one of the most significant in Debrecen, while our company group has so far been the largest. We have built a 155-room, four-star superior hotel in the heart of the city – emphasized Gyula Szűcs, the president and CEO of the investor Szinorg Universal Zrt. He recalled that the planning was preceded by a study which revealed that there is a significant shortage of hotel accommodation in Debrecen. Construction work began in November 2020. Accor hotel management was appointed as an expert.
About HUF 32 billion in support in the county
Two years ago, the Hungarian Tourism Agency announced in its Kisfaludy program that it would provide tender support for the establishment of hotels with over 100 rooms. Péter Horváth, the CEO of the agency, emphasized in his speech: Bajcsy Invest Kft was the first to build its 155-room hotel.
– Tourism is the driving force of the Hungarian economy, which contributed 7.5% to GDP growth last year. This year, we see that number increase by 10 percent. It is expected that there will be 37 million guest nights this year, which is 8 million more than last year – the hotel expert shared the results, adding that the Debrecen hotel will surely add to this growth, which is already full and half of its guests are foreign nationals. – Debrecen and its surroundings are the fourth most visited region in the country. Hajdú-Bihar County received more than HUF 32 billion in tourism support for 1,140 projects, while Debrecen’s nearly 150 developments received more than HUF 15 billion, he added.
Sabina Bartyzel, the head of Accor’s Eastern European region, said in her welcome speech: their company has about 5,300 employees and is present in more than 110 countries. In Hungary, the Mercure in Debrecen is the 24th in the line.
BS