Although Prague’s hotel capacities have slightly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Czech capital is still a preferred hotel market in Central and Eastern Europe. Per Cushman & Wakefield’s ranking, which assessed 20 cities in the region, Prague ranked first. Furthermore, by 2024 additional accommodation facilities are expected to open, particularly in the luxury segment, offering almost 2,000 hotel rooms and over 18,298 square feet of meeting space.
The number of collective accommodation facilities in Prague remained relatively stable from 2015 to 2019. During this period, the Czech capital offered accommodation in about 800 collective accommodation facilities with a capacity of around 42,000 rooms and 90,000 beds, mainly in the segment of three- and four-star hotels. A significant change occurred in 2020, when the capacity of Prague accommodation facilities exceeded 44,000 rooms for the first time since 2012. That said, in 2021, over 1,500 rooms disappeared from the Prague market.
In 2019, Prague had almost 80 percent hotel occupancy, which was the fifth best in Europe; in 2021, it ranked among the worst, with an average occupancy rate of 26 percent.
Before the outbreak of the pandemic, the meetings industry was also thriving. According to aggregated data from the Prague Convention Bureau, the umbrella organization for the Prague meetings industry, 5,944 events took place in Prague in the record year 2019, attended by over 715,000 delegates. This is the highest number since 2014, when the Prague Convention Bureau began compiling aggregated data from the statistics of the Czech Statistical Office, although these do not include events held outside hotel facilities, and from its own statistics acquired from partner entities, such as the congress centers in Prague. During the pandemic, the number of events and participating delegates dropped by almost 80 percent.
More good news: Investors and owners have not stopped planning the construction or renovation of hotel facilities. Before the pandemic, at least 15 hotels were refurbished, and many others took advantage of low occupancy to accelerate renovation works during COVID. New hotels incldue the Andaz Prague Hotel, Stages Hotel Prague, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, new concept The Julius Residence and Hotel Chevron.
By 2024 end, the accommodation and meeting capacity of Prague is expected to expand further with several new hotel facilities of higher categories. In the first half of 2023, the former Alcron Hotel, newly named Almanac X, will open after reconstruction, offering a capacity of 204 rooms. It shall be followed by the new W Prague Hotel with 161 rooms and 3,767 square feet of meeting space, which will be created by renovating the former Hotel Evropa on Wenceslas Square. Other larger hotel projects planned for 2023 include the Mozart Hotel with 170 rooms. In the coming years, there will also be an expansion in capacities of already established hotels. Together with the planned complete renovation, Botanique Hotel Prague will expand with 56 new rooms, which will thus offer a total of 262 rooms and a total area of 4,843 square feet of new meeting space. The same number of rooms should be added to the Hotel Carol of the Jan Hotels group. After expansion, it should offer a total of 117 rooms.
Within two years, the opening of Zleep Radlická of the Deutsche Hospitality hotel chain with 166 rooms, the Grande Amade Hotel with 165 rooms, and the Motel ONE at Masaryk Station, which should have a capacity of 382 rooms, will follow. In the first half of 2024, the former InterContinental Hotel should also be reopened under the Fairmont Golden Prague Hotel name with 297 rooms and 8,611 square feet of meeting space. The segment of smaller hotels offering a capacity of less than 100 beds will also grow, with a total of four such boutique facilities expected to open. Altogether, these hotels will expand the accommodation capacity of Prague by 254 rooms.
City officials remain hopeful that projects postponed due to the pandemic—such as the Hard Rock Hotel (which was originally expected to open in 2023 and was supposed to be one of the representatives of large congress hotels with a capacity of 523 rooms and 59,201 square feet of meeting space) and a luxury hotel in the U Sixtů House near the Old Town Square (which should have 90 rooms)—will eventually be completed.
For more information, visit www.pragueconvention.cz.
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