In the Ukrainian hospitality market, 45 new projects of hotel and apartment complexes and 108 hotel-type cottage towns are planned for 2024-2026, according to a study by Ribas Hotels Group.
According to it, in the next two years, the announced replenishment of the room stock is 6670 rooms for hotels and apartments, and 3097 houses for cottage communities.
According to the study, as of mid-2024, there are 2017 hotels operating in Ukraine, while 12 facilities have been destroyed or damaged since the start of the full-scale war.
Optima Hotels (64 hotels), Ribas Hotels Group (21 hotels) and Premier Hotels and Resorts (11 hotels) are the leaders in terms of the number of hotels. Among the foreign chains, Accor with nine hotels and Radisson with five are the leaders in terms of the scale of their presence.
The average occupancy rate of Ukrainian hotels in the first half of 2024 was 34-38%, and in some regions in the west of the country (Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zakarpattia regions) it reached 60-70%.
According to the study, since 2013, the total number of collective accommodation facilities has been decreasing by an average of 175 facilities annually, mainly due to health facilities, sanatoriums, health resorts, boarding houses with treatment, balneotherapy and mud hospitals, tourist bases, campsites, recreation centers and boarding houses. At the same time, the number of hotels increased by 9.1%, motels by 10.7%, and hostels by 28.7%.
According to analysts, after the war ends, the tourist flow in Ukraine may increase to 14.5 million people. Thus, the current room capacity will not be able to meet the demand. According to Ribas Hotels Group, the potential need for hotel rooms may be +30-40% of the current number.
It is noted that the study used data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the State Agency for Tourism Development, the State Border Guard Service, the main statistics departments of Kyiv, Lviv and Lviv Regional State Administration, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro regions, the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, the State Register of Immovable Property of Ukraine, the Service Portal for Tourists, the Hotel and Statistical Aggregators.
Hotel operator Ribas Hotels Group and development company Arena Bud intend to build an Erwin Hall apartment hotel in the village of Polyana (Zakarpattia region), the operator’s press service has reported.
According to the press release, the hotel is scheduled to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2027. According to the project, the seven-storey hotel will have 116 apartments of different categories: smart, 1- and 2-room apartments with an average area of 32 square meters.
According to the founder of Ribas Hotels Group, Artur Lupashko, the estimated payback period of the hotel is up to 9 years, with a yield of up to 11.5% per annum.
“Mineral waters and unique nature have always provided a reliable tourist flow and turned Polyana into a resort that also has a good and safe location, as it borders Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania. We are also ready to cooperate with the local authorities and develop the surrounding areas, including infrastructure for drivers and pedestrians, landscaping and lighting,” explained Oleksandr Kurakh, CEO and founder of Arena Bud, as quoted in the statement.
Ribas Hotels Group is an international management company established in 2014 in Odesa, whose flagship service is the operational management of hotel and restaurant complexes. The company also provides services in concept development, design, support of all stages of project implementation, consulting and franchising for developers.
The company has 28 city, beach, and ski hotels under the Ribas, Ribas Hotels, Ribas Rooms, WOL home + hotel, and Mandra Glamping brands under integrated management and exclusive booking. The operator’s total room capacity is over 1000 rooms. In total, the portfolio includes 55 projects, including those under design and construction.
The company is currently developing facilities in Poland, Moldova, and Indonesia.
Arena Bud’s portfolio includes nine commissioned residential complexes with a total area of over 40 thousand square meters in the western regions of Ukraine.
Ukrainian hotel occupancy in May 2024 increased in Kyiv and Bukovel, while it decreased in Lviv and Odesa, Olga Mishchenko, Project Manager of Hotel Matrix, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The occupancy of Ukrainian hotels in the first quarter of 2024 increased compared to the same period last year in Kyiv to 39% (+86%), in Bukovel – to 46% (by 13%), decreased in Lviv to 49% (by 14%) and in Odesa – to 23% (- 8%). In Kyiv, there is a positive trend in all indicators – the average daily rate (ADR) increased by 40% to UAH 2689, RevPAR (revenue per available room per day) by 158% to UAH 1041,” she said during the Hospitality Connect conference.
According to Hotel Matrix data, the average daily rate (ADR) for this period also increased in Bukovel – UAH 4190 (+13%), in Lviv – UAH 2729 (+7.15%), and decreased in Odesa – UAH 2126 (-6%).
RevPAR (revenue per available room per day) in May 2014 in Bukovel amounted to 1941 UAH (+30%), in Lviv – 1338 UAH (-8%), in Odesa – 490 UAH (-14%).
According to Hotel Matrix, as of June 2024, there are about 4 thousand three- to five-star hotels in Ukraine with a total of 110 thousand rooms. The estimated market volume as of May 2024 for accommodation services is UAH 2 billion 364.6 million.
Hotel Matrix is a web-based hotel analytics product developed by experts from Poland and Ukraine. It was launched in May 2020. Today, more than 200 hotels in Ukraine, Poland and Kazakhstan are connected to Hotel Matrix.
The occupancy of Ukrainian hotels increased in the first quarter of 2024 in Kyiv and Odesa, and decreased in Lviv, Olga Mishchenko, head of the Hotel Matrix project, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The occupancy of Ukrainian hotels in the first quarter of 2024 increased compared to the same period last year in almost all regions where the study is underway. In Kyiv, the growth is up to 35.44% (+64%), in Bukovel – to 53.91% (by 33%), in Odesa – to 21.85% (+5%). We note a decrease in the occupancy rate of Lviv hotels – down to 40.15% (- 20%),” she said.
According to Hotel Matrix, the average daily rate (ADR) for the period under review in Bukovel amounted to UAH 5909 (-3%), in Lviv – UAH 2865 (+2%), in Kyiv – UAH 2201 (-8%), in Odesa – UAH 1827 (+6%).
RevPAR (revenue per available room per day) in the first quarter of 2014 in Bukovel amounted to UAH 3185.8 (+29%), in Lviv – UAH 1150.2 (-20%), in Kyiv – UAH 779.65 (+52%), in Odesa – UAH 339.3 (+1%).
“We see that Lviv has a negative trend in terms of occupancy and revenue per available room. At the same time, there is a bright increase in RevPAR in Kyiv hotels (+52%),” Mishchenko highlighted the main trends of the quarter.
Hotel Matrix is a web-based hotel analytics product developed by experts from Poland and Ukraine. It was launched in May 2020. To date, more than 200 hotels in Ukraine, Poland and Kazakhstan have been connected to Hotel Matrix.
Hotel operator Optima (formerly Reikartz) plans to open a new property in Chernivtsi in May 2024.
According to the operator’s press service, the new hotel will be opened under the Optima Collection brand.
The six-story hotel will have 58 rooms.
The Optima Hotels & Resorts chain unites more than 80 hotels in Ukraine, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Uzbekistan.
Starting in 2023, Reikartz is rebranding its hotel chain in Ukraine under the new name Optima Hotels & Resorts. The operator operated under the Raziotel (a chain of three-star economy hotels), Vita, Optima (wellness resorts and three-star hotels), as well as Reikartz Collection and Reikartz Hotels & Resorts (three-star-plus and four-star business and resort hotels) brands.
Optima Hotel Management LLC was established in 2008. According to Opendatabot, the company’s shareholders are Volodymyr Kashutin (Lviv, 99.9%) and Andriy Dema (Kyiv, 0.1%). Kashutin is listed as the ultimate beneficiary. At the same time, until 2019, the beneficiaries were Russian citizens Yuriy Vasin, Leonid Lavrentiev and Timur Rodionov.
According to the financial results for 2023, the company’s net profit amounted to UAH 7 million, compared to a loss in 2022. Revenue increased by 40.8% to UAH 445.8 million.
State-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) has put up for sale the Atmosfera shopping mall and Ramada Encore Kyiv hotel in the capital, 11 land plots in Kozyn (Kyiv region) and the right of claim to Niteko LLC for UAH 1.79 billion through the OpenMarket electronic trading system (SE SETAM of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine).
According to SETAM’s press service, the lot includes real estate in Kyiv at 103 Stolichne Shosse (buildings 1-4). They include an administrative and hotel center with an area of 39.5 thousand square meters, a shopping and entertainment center (31.6 thousand square meters) with a parking lot (16.8 thousand square meters), a two-level parking lot (17.5 thousand square meters) and other premises.
In addition, the lot also includes 11 land plots in Kozyn with a total area of 17.3 hectares for residential construction, as well as the rights to claim against LLC “Company Niteko” under the 2007 non-revolving credit line agreement, including the assignment of rights under security agreements.
“The well-known Kyiv shopping center and hotel are located at the intersection of three major highways towards the elite villages of Obukhiv district and Koncha Zaspa, so they are well served by traffic. This offer may potentially be of interest to major market players,” the press service quoted Oleksandr Mamro, CEO of SETAM, as saying.
The auction is scheduled for March 25. The guarantee fee is UAH 89.9 million.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Niteko is FC NGI Management LLC, and the ultimate beneficiary is Dmytro Buriak. At the end of 2023, the company reduced its net loss by 4.9 times compared to 2022 – to UAH 70.2 million, while net income increased by 69% to UAH 146.2 million.
As reported, Wyndham Hotel Group (WHG) opened its largest four-star hotel under the Ramada Encore brand in June 2012 as part of the Stolychnyi mixed-use complex (formerly Domosfera) at 103 Stolychne Shosse in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv.
The 22-storey hotel has 332 rooms and 58 apartments. The hotel’s infrastructure includes a conference center with a total area of more than 4 thousand square meters with 20 meeting rooms, a two-level parking lot for 1150 cars, two fitness centers, restaurants, a sushi bar and a summer terrace. The hotel is managed by DBI Hotels & Resorts (Switzerland).
The Atmosfera shopping and entertainment center (SEC) in Stolychny was opened on April 12, 2014. The mall has about 50 premium shops and boutiques, a food court, an entertainment area, a karting center, a fitness center, a cinema with restaurant service and an event hall with 800 seats.
The developer of the Stolychnyi mixed-use project is DeVision Group. The mixed-use complex also includes Domosfera shopping center with a leasable area of 30.7 thousand square meters, opened on May 16, 2009, and Europe business center of B+ class with a total area of 22 thousand square meters and parking for 300 cars. The total area of the mixed-use complex is 158.2 thousand square meters.
