“I will start construction of a new hotel in Navodari in September to complement the Phoenicia Holiday Resort. The hotel will have 300 rooms. The estimated investment stands at EUR8 million, and part of the money will come from a bank loan,” the businessman said.
Murad owns a complex that can accommodate 1,700 people in suites, rented for EUR90 or EUR100 a night. The complex, which includes six swimming pools, required a EUR25 million investment, the businessman says. To boost accommodation capacity in this resort, Mohammad Murad came up with the plan for the new investment.
“I can already see an over 12% increase in the revenue of our resort. The take-up of the complex in Navodari stood at 75% in June. Our guests are families with children who stay four or five nights on average.”
The Lebanese businessman is one of the biggest investors in the Romanian tourism industry by number of rooms in hotels. He owns six hotels at the seaside including Phoenicia Holiday Resort, Perla Majestic, Majestic Olimp, and Majestic Jupiter, which he expects to generate EUR10 million in revenue this summer. He also owns hotels in Bucharest, the Phoenicia Grand Hotel and the Phoenicia Express.
Other owners of seaside hotels in Romania include Josef Goschy, George Copos and Gheorghe Hagi.
“The profit may be small, but the asset value is rising every year if we take care of the business. I’ve received several offers to sell from investment funds in the Arab world,” he says.
The complex in Navodari is similar to other complexes in Greece and Turkey, Murad says, adding the number of reservations is on the rise.
The businessman came in Romania when he was 19 to attend medical school. He graduated in 1988 and got a job as a doctor but quit after a while to start his own business following the family tradition. He also controls the Spring Time restaurant chain, the meat spread producer Mandy and real estate businesses.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)