The foundation stone of the new four-star hotel was laid in Debrecen on 17 June. The building is being delivered as an investment by Bajcsy Invest, part of the Szinorg Group, on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky utca. Gergely Gulyás also attended the ceremony.
On Bajcsy-Zsilinszky utca, 155 rooms and apartments in total are being created across the four residential floors above entrance level. The hotel will also have a 120-seat restaurant and a conference room of the same capacity, and guests will be able to park in the underground car park.
The company won HUF 3.453 billion of state support for building the hotel under the Kisfaludy programme. The total investment costs HUF 8.2 billion, with the developer covering the difference from its own resources and bank funding. The hotel was designed by Péter Bordás's practice, BORD Építész Stúdió Kft.
Photo: civishir.hu
László Papp said at the ceremony that with the government's support a much-needed investment can now be delivered in Debrecen, since it is more than ten years since a hotel offering service of this quality was last built in the city. The mayor also spoke of the very substantial growth Debrecen's economy has seen in recent years, alongside a significant expansion in the city's tourism services, which makes quality accommodation necessary. He added that with the improving pandemic situation traffic at Debrecen airport has been able to resume, so tourists will hopefully arrive again from many countries.
Gyula Szűcs, Chairman and CEO of Szinorg Universal Zrt., said that although the coronavirus pandemic dealt the tourism sector a heavy blow, it is their belief in the future that carries them forward with the project: they believe science will defeat the pandemic, the Hungarian economy will restart, and Debrecen will develop further through the Debrecen 2030 programme. Alongside municipal and state programmes, the city will also be strengthened by private investment — and Szinorg will be a partner in that. He added that the support of the Hungarian state and the Hungarian Tourism Agency has made it possible to bring the first international brand to Debrecen: Mercure, owned by the Accor Group, of which the Debrecen hotel will be part.
Lajos Kósa, Member of Parliament, emphasised that the new hotel will form part of the Bika block, and that work is under way to modernise the whole area. He also spoke of existing plans to improve access to the area and to expand parking.
Photo: civishir.hu
Gergely Gulyás, Minister heading the Prime Minister's Office, said hotels had to stay closed for a long period because of the pandemic, which makes it all the more welcome that a company is launching a hotel development "in Debrecen, perhaps the country's fastest-growing city." He recalled that after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 everyone thought airline traffic would never return to its previous volume — yet two years later it was breaking records. He is confident the pandemic too will come to seem like a bad dream, and that the tourism sector will break records in the years ahead.
The Mercure Debrecen hotel is expected to be completed by April 2022 and to welcome its first guests in August of that year.
Sources: dehir.hu, civishir.hu
Editor: Orsolya Gál