A double celebration was held at the 101-room hotel in Darabos Street, Debrecen. In keeping with tradition, the project participants celebrated the construction of the building reaching its highest point with a bush-topping ceremony. It was also announced that the new hotel on Darabos Street will be called Hilton Garden Inn Debrecen City Center.
The aim from the very beginning was to build a modern and energy-efficient hotel in keeping with the historic city centre, said, the Managing Director of Tetrecen Real Estate Marketing and Investment Ltd György László. He also said that they are proud to have been chosen by the world’s leading hotel chain to partner with them to open the first rural Hilton in Hungary.
Photo: Molnár Péter
Malgorzata Morek, Eastern European Development Director of Hilton, said they are very excited to bring Hilton Garden Inn to Debrecen, one of the fastest-growing brands in their portfolio. As it turns out, they will offer affordable accommodation and the award-winning hospitality you can expect from Hilton.
The foundation stone for the 101-room, 7-storey hotel was laid just over a year ago and is due for completion by the end of 2023.
– It will be the first rural member of the world’s leading hotel chain in Hungary. It will be a modern, energy-efficient hotel in keeping with the historic city centre, and its name will be worthy of its surroundings, as György László, CEO of the investor Tetrecen Kft., emphasised.
– Debrecen has been on our radar for a long time, we understood the potential of the significant number of business and leisure travellers,” said Malgorzata Morek, Eastern European Development Director of Hilton at the opening ceremony. As she said, Hilton is the world’s leading hospitality and hotel company, representing some 18 global brands and welcoming more than one billion guests in its 100 years of existence. Its portfolio includes more than 7,000 properties and 1.1 million rooms in 123 countries. In Europe, it has 500 properties and more than 200 in preparation. The company is growing significantly in Europe and in Hungary – outside Budapest, we will also be present in Debrecen with an elegant but affordable Hilton Garden Inn branded hotel. This is one of the fastest-growing brands in Europe, chosen by investors because such hotels consistently deliver an outstanding guest experience with excellent returns. Hilton Garden Inn can adapt to a wide range of markets and is the most popular among those who want to combine quality with value,” added Malgorzata Morek.
Although “the times are gloomy and the international situation is intensifying”, László Papp, the mayor, says that in his experience, people who think about Debrecen have a positive vision: they want to develop and invest in the city. He believes that one of the most important proofs of this is the new Hilton hotel.
– Debrecen has been one of the most dynamically developing cities in Hungary over the last two and a half decades, but it has actually crossed national borders, maturing into a major city with absolute regional impact here in Eastern Hungary. Our economic development is both exemplary and unprecedented: over the last 8 years, more than €10 billion of working capital has come and is coming to Debrecen. It is said that one automotive job generates four other jobs, and obviously, these economic development processes are interlinked, and the Hilton investment can be realised in Debrecen because the city is economically ready for this challenge, for a hotel of this quality to be built here. He pointed out that the tourism market in Debrecen is not a one-legged business, and that the Debrecen-Tisza Lake-Hortobágy region is the third most frequented region in Hungary after Budapest and the Lake Balaton region. In addition to wellness tourism, conference tourism has a very important role to play, as the number of overnight stays has increased in connection with the economic growth of the city. In this respect, the coming years will be even more intense, which will contribute to Hilton’s success here. Although the energy situation brings new challenges for the industry, the fact that new hotels are being built in Debrecen shows the belief in a positive future,” said László Papp.
Péter Horváth, CEO of the Hungarian Tourism Agency, considers Hilton’s investment to be a project of outstanding quality and volume, as well as a substitute for the lack of investment. According to him, Debrecen has a decisive role in Hungarian tourism, and thanks to this development it will also play a decisive role in international business tourism. He noted that the new hotel, which was recently inaugurated in the heart of the city, will also bring “great numbers”.
He presented important tourism figures: in the first 10 months of 2022, 173,000 guests arrived in Debrecen, spending 463,000 nights. Domestic tourists accounted for 57 per cent of the turnover, but foreign interest is also growing, with 198,000 foreign overnight stays in September and October this year, 62 per cent higher than a year earlier. Israel, for example, recorded five times as many overnight stays as in the same period last year, but the German sending market was also significant, with a 25 per cent increase. The figures remain encouraging: by the second half of November, Debrecen will see 40,000 guest nights booked, and by December 64,000 bookings, meaning that by the end of the year Debrecen will have twice as many visitors as this time last year.
– The Hilton hotel will lead the way in challenging times with its smart, energy-efficient operation,” he added.
Source: Hajdú Online
