Despite numerous initiatives such as the European Cultural Capital and follow-up events, the Timisoara tourism market is still under the pre-pandemic figures. Those figures reflect a low pace of development for the hotel market.
In the last 11 years, the Timisoara hotel market grew by only 12%. The highest increase of 19% is in the “4-star” category, according to the data from Est Hospitality. The total number of hotel rooms for the local market is 2,170.
Branded hotels represent just 17.7% of the market. With one exception – Ibis – the other three units are rather boutique hotels, with less than 85 rooms.
Regarding tourists’ arrivals, the statistics show that for the first semester of 2024, Timisoara is 16% below the same period from 2019 and around 5% below the same period from the previous year. The total number of tourists arrivals for the first six months stands under 100,000 people. In 2019 the total number of tourists’ arrivals was 250,054, while in 2023 it reached 233,289.
However, the branded hotel pipeline looks good for the next four years, mainly due to the pronounced lack of offers. There are five hotel-branded projects in the pipeline, with a total number of 600 rooms, which represents a growth of 18% for the Timisoara hotel market. 2024 will mark the opening of the first 5-star branded hotel in Timisoara.
“Although there is a strong investment confidence in the market, with 600 new rooms announced for the next 4 years, we do not see a positive trend in tourist’s arrivals in Timisoara. A demand driver could be the development of ”Traian Vuia” international airport, which might add new connections with other European destinations and bring additional tourists in Timisoara,” said Mircea Draghici, Managing Partner, Est Hospitality.
