TIRANA, December 6 – US-based giant Hyatt has come to Albania where it will manage a former Sheraton hotel that was bought and renamed by an Albanian investor in early 2018. This closes a void in international brands that five star hotels in the following country manage Sheraton’s departure.
The contract was signed on Thursday with the Kastrati Group, the second largest Albanian-owned company with main business areas in the oil trading industry, which, however, diversified its investments in the hotel industry by purchasing the former Sheraton Tirana for around EUR 30 million in early 2018. and later renamed Mak Tirana Hotel after Sheraton left the management.
Kastrati’s contract with Mak Albania in January 2018, a subsidiary of the Kuwait-based Kharafi Group Investments, which has been active in the country with several investments in the tourism industry since the collapse of the communist regime in the early 1990s, resulted in the departure of Sheraton Albania after 15 years Operates in the country under a previous contract with the Kuwaiti investors.
With more than 700 hotels in 50 countries worldwide, Hyatt, based in the USA, is one of the world’s leading luxury brands and currently operates only one hotel in Serbia among the Western Balkans.
The Albanian owners of the upcoming Hyatt Hotel are planning to expand the capacity of the 150-room luxury hotel with villas next to the hotel building, which is located in prime downtown Tirana next to major government institutions and the Tirana Sea Park.
Prime Minister Edi Rama says the arrival of Hyatt and other luxury brands will fill the gap in terms of quality service in Albania’s burgeoning tourism sector, where tourist numbers and incomes are steadily increasing.
According to Rama, high-end four- and five-star hotels that have been offered tax incentives will increase income and employment in the tourism sector, making tourism the main driver of Albanian economic growth in a decade.
In order to encourage investment in elite tourism, Albania recently offers tax incentives for a period of 10 years for luxury accommodation for investments between 8 and 15 million euros for four and five star units, which must be promoted by internationally renowned chain brand hotels or local companies under management or franchise agreements with them.
Hyatt will compete with Marriott next year, another US giant that will be just a few hundred yards from the new Marriott Tirana.
Marriott will manage a 24-story tower under construction at the new National Stadium, which is being built as part of a public-private partnership with an Albanian company.
Marriott International will work under a franchise agreement with the Albanian company Albstar, which is building the National Arena stadium, the new home for the national soccer team, which will be completed next year as a stadium, commercial center and hotel.
However, the arrival of Marriott International is not new in Albania. The American hotel giant had an indirect presence in Albania in 2017 through the Sheraton Hotel in Tirana, a global Starwood brand that it acquired at the end of 2016.
Last September, the Hilton Garden Inn, a mid-priced Hilton Worldwide brand, launched its first hotel in Tirana, an Albanian investment of 19 million euros in collaboration with the renowned US hotel chain under a franchise agreement.
Competition for luxury hotels in Tirana has intensified significantly in Tirana in recent years following the opening of the Albanian Plaza Hotel, a 24-story tower in Tirana city center and the recent launch of the Hilton Garden Inn.
The Austrian-owned Rogner Hotel and the 15-storey Albanian-owned Tirana International Hotel are also in the immediate vicinity of the city center.
While the Albanian government supports the idea of the need for luxury investment, some local experts say that the demand for accommodation in Tirana, which has increased significantly in recent years, is mainly for mid-priced 3 or 4 star hotels with the new luxury investments Skepticism.
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