UK: Cycas Hospitality is planning to add 4,000 extended stay units in Germany to its portfolio.
Asli Kutclucan, head of hotel development and acquisition at Cycas said: “Given our ambitious plans to extend Cycas Hospitality’s portfolio to 10,000 rooms by 2022, we’ve identified Germany’s potential to more than double our existing portfolio over the next four years. In fact, we’re so excited about the German market’s extended-stay potential, we’re looking to add up to 4,000 rooms through new-build properties, converting and re-purposing offices or repositioning existing hotels.”
Research by Apartmentservice.de has shown that the serviced apartment market in Germany lags behind that of the UK and France but has grown by 112 per cent since 2010 and is set to grow by a further 42 per cent by 2020. And a study by Catella suggests that the share of serviced apartments in Germany’s hotel market will rise to 10 per cent by 2030.
Kutclucan added: “Having conducted in-depth research, our interest goes beyond the obvious top seven cities of Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart to strong secondary cities such as Bonn and Hanover – cities which combine population growth and positive economic indicators with strong hotel demand generators. These locations typically have competitive and mixed economies, combined with high recreational value. Furthermore, they are often close to major cities, which adds to their appeal. We also feel strongly that this mix of business travel and tourism, coupled with varied economies, could mean dual-branded hotels have a significant role to play in Germany’s future hotel landscape.”
Cycas is keen to expand the dual-branded hotel concept, with which it has been successful in other European countries, to Germany. Kutlucan said: “Just as in the UK, double-decker hotels offer significant space and cost efficiencies while allowing brands and investors to cater to different target groups under one roof. Given that Marriott’s first European dual-branded property was in Munich, there’s no doubt this concept can be rolled out further across the country to make it an industry mainstay.”
