Warsaw focuses on the development of hotel and conference markets
The Warsaw Tourist Organization and the Office of Economic Development of the City Office work on strategic documents defining the directions of the capital’s development. Priorities include the business services centers, IT technology and fashion and design sectors. It also entails a dynamic development of the office and conference market. The city also intends to lobby for the creation of a new congress center.
The Warsaw Tourist Organization and its Warsaw Convention Bureau department, which is engaged in the acquisition of international congresses and events, cooperates closely with the City Hall, especially with the Economic Development Office and together with this office we work on several strategic documents that determine which directions of the economy will be particularly strongly develop and on which the city will be focus – says Mateusz Czerwiński, vice president of the Warsaw Tourist Organization. – These are, among others business shared services, modern IT technologies, but also, interestingly, the fashion and design industry.
One of the key industries is the property development industry. We are in the rankings in the top three cities that have the largest supply of developing office space. Interestingly, at the moment Warsaw has in the so-called pipeline, or approximately 1 million sq m under construction. office space and only 14 percent of this area is still unoccupied, which is extremely important – emphasizes Mateusz Czerwiński.According to the CBRE report “Q4 2018 Market View. The Warsaw office market “, in the center of Warsaw the vacancy rate fell to the lowest level in a decade. For several quarters, the demand for offices in this part of the city has been much higher than the supply – in 2018, 122 thousand sqm were put into use, while interest was estimated at around 400,000 sqm. Return to balance – in the opinion of CBRE experts – will be possible next year, when several significant investments in the center will be put into use.
This is also visible on the hotel market. In the years 2018-2019, the increase in the number of hotel rooms will be around 4,000. – informs a representative of the Warsaw Tourist Organization. – This is consistent, because Warsaw hotels largely survive from corporate traffic, conferences and congresses. We have more and more office space, that is more and more companies, each of which organizes events and conferences. In connection with this, the hotel market and the entire conference market are also gradually growing. This is one of the industries on which the Economic Development Bureau strongly puts.
According to JLL data, over 100 hotels operate in Warsaw, around 25 new openings have been planned over the next few years. It is as much as was created during the last ten years, which indicates that the market is accelerating. Many new investments will be built in the very center of the capital and in the neighboring Wola. Most hotel rooms are occupied during the week instead of on weekends, which also affects the prices of accommodation, which on Saturdays can fall by as much as half compared to working days.
The trend is that the city will surely lobby for the creation of a new congress center, which will further develop the previously mentioned branches of the economy – adds Mateusz Czerwiński. – Warsaw is showing its successes on the two largest investment fairs in Europe and in the world, in Cannes and Munich, these activities will be continued. The area of Praga, which is the right-bank Warsaw, which has been forgotten for years, is being developed quite intensively. A revitalization project is currently underway, under which the tourist aspect is also strongly implemented and this is what the WOT deals with.In the first half of 2018 according to the Central Statistical Office in Poland, accommodation was provided to 7.7 million foreign tourists, of which 1.43 million were located in the Mazowieckie voivodship. It’s almost 18.5 percent. all nights of foreign guests in Poland – more were recorded only in Małopolska and in Zachodniopomorskie. Taking into account all the accommodation, including domestic guests, the percentage drops to 11.5 percent, which indicates the importance of visits by foreigners in the capital. On the other hand, among poviats and cities with poviat rights, Warsaw took first place with almost 3 million in terms of accommodation.- In addition, there is a whole bunch of typically scientific projects in which the city cooperates with local universities, associations, start-ups. They are to develop us as a very innovative economy, whether as regards cybersecurity, information techniques, but also for example sustainable food, because this is an area very important for Mazovia – emphasizes WOT Vice President.
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