Romanian Tycoon Copos: I Would Sell Seaside Hotels In An Instant

05.26.2011 ZF English

George Copos, one of the best-known local businessmen, who owns seven hotels, two of which in Eforie Nord Black Sea resort, says Romanian seaside tourism has no chance of growing because of the lack of a coherent strategy.

"I regret the EUR25 million investment I made on the Romanian seaside in the two hotels. I would sell the seaside hotels in an instant, even for EUR1 million," said George Copos at an event organized by the Romanian Hotel Industry Federation.

He controls Europa and Astoria hotels in Eforie Nord, with an overall capacity of 322 rooms, which posted EUR3.1 million in turnover last year, according to the businessman.

Copos, who did not build any of the hotels from scratch, would not reveal the profit generated by the seaside hotels.

While the Romanian seaside barely attracts one million tourists per year, Turkey's Antalya resort alone attracts over 15 million tourists.

Copos also said in the absence of a developed transport infrastructure one cannot talk about tourism in Romania.