Iasi remains one of the most underdeveloped hotel markets in Romania, with branded hotels representing just 12% of total rooms capacity.
In 2023 Iasi airport represented the third busiest airport from Romanian following Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca with an annual traffic of 2,3 million passengers. The trend maintained in the first semester of 2024, when data from National Statistic Institute shows a total traffic of 1,056,000 passengers. The airport has 4 terminals, with passenger operations taking place in the main terminal T4 (which is used for all domestic and Schengen flights) as well as T3 (used for non-Schengen flights). Terminal T4 was opened in March 2024, following an investment of around 100 million EUR. The old T1 terminal now functions as office, administrative and storage space, while the former T2 terminal is to be converted into a cargo terminal.
The arrivals in “Rooms and apartments for rent” from Iasi City was relatively stable throughout the last 3 years. Although for 2023 it was a decrease in overnights of 12% compared to 2022, in the first 9 months of 2024 there is a growth of 16.0% compared to 2023.
The average length of stay in hotels and apartments for rent is in the range of 1.5-1-6 nights. However, for apartments we have noticed resilience as opposed to hotels where there is a decrease y-o-y in the last 6 years (i.e.: 1.73 nights in 2018 and 1.67 nights in 2024).
There is no branded hotel in the pipeline, with a small offer of only 193 rooms, in two hotels, 3* classified. There are no 4* or 5* branded hotels in Iasi.
In terms of tourist arrivals in hotels, Iasi city registered a positive increase of 1.5% in 2023 as compared to 2022 but a negative growth of almost 1% for overnights. The negative trend from 2023 continued in 2024 and both indicators are below 2023 with around 12%.
Mircea Draghici, Managing Partner, Est Hospitality:
“We have noticed a shift in demand from hotel rooms to apartments for rent in the market. This is a trend that we see in other cities as well in the last two years. It also shows that Iasi city has a big growth potential for full-service hotels (ie 4-star).”
