Hungarian hotel group Danubius Hotels Rt reported smaller losses for the first quarter of 2004 and said on Friday it saw some encouraging signs for a recovery in the country's tourism sector. Danubius, which operates city and spa hotels in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania, had a pre-tax loss of 892 million forints ($4.12 million) in the first quarter of 2004 against a pre-tax loss of 2.172 billion forints a year earlier. "In the first quarter of 2004, on nationwide level, the number of guest nights rose 20 percent, the gross room revenue rose 24 percent and hotels operated with an average room occupancy of 46 percent, six percentage points higher than in the first three months of the previous year," it said.
Danubius's revenues rose by 9.4 percent to 6.985 billion forints in January-March 2004 from 6.382 billion forints a year ago, while its operating costs increased at a slower pace, by 7.3 percent, to 7.344 billion forints, it said.
Danubius said the rise in sales came from its Hungarian hotels, while the Romanian subsidiary Sovata Hotel contributed 117 million to its sales.
The company's hotels in Hungary saw a 6.9 percentate point rise in room occupancy year-on-year, and key was the fact that a decline in guest nights by German tourists stopped. A large part of Danubius' foreign guests come Germany.
The Czech and Slovak hotels generated 225 million forint less sales than a year ago, amid lower room occupancy, it said.
($1=216.51 Hungarian Forint)
Source: Reuters
14.05.2004