New hotels in high demand

The booming tourism industry is apparent in the country’s hotel statistics.

Hotels have seen a massive increase in visitor numbers in recent years, rising from 100,000 in 2013 to almost 152,000 last year, with an average annual increase of 10,369.

This rapid increase has created an acute shortage of hotels, especially in Tórshavn.

Flooded with bookings

Although the Hilton Gardens Inn and Hotel Brandan will not open until next summer, bookings are already flooding in.

Hotel Brandan has received more than 3,000 bookings for next year, and there have also been enquiries for stays in 2021, according to manager Rógvi Mikkelsen.

The Hilton Gardens Inn has also had thousands of enquiries, although the hotel is not taking regular bookings until the management knows the exact opening date.

Both hotels are expected to be completed according to plan in time for the 2020 tourist season.

Further growth expected

Indications show that the explosive tourism growth may well create a need for further expansion in the hotel industry in the near future.

“Hotels have been fully booked for many years now, so we haven’t really been able to determine the exact figures in terms of demand. But once the new hotels open, we will get a much clearer idea of the actual demand,” says Mikkelsen.

Martin Restorff, manager of the Hilton Gardens, agrees that the industry will continue to grow, but he believes it is too early to say whether there will be a need to build more hotels.

Translated by prosa.fo