‘Eyesore’ Hotels Told to Hurry Up

Hotels in the capital’s top tourist zones that are undergoing unsightly construction work have been told they must tear down the scaffolding within the next two years.

The economy ministry issued the deadline following a recent government decision to impose tough penalties on hotels that are felt to be dragging their feet over building projects.

Under the new rules, investors and owners could be fined up to €2 million for every year that they go over the deadline.

The regulations have been widely described as a penalty for ugliness and are expected to target hotels whose unfinished appearance is thought to have defaced tourist hotspots.

During a visit to the Hotel Metropol in late September, economy minister Nebojsa Ciric said the new laws should warn future investors to obey deadlines.

The Hotel Metropol was privatised in 2006. The state sold it for €27 million to a Greek company, which was required to refurbish the hotel by 2009. However, construction work on the site has yet to be completed.

Ciric said the Greek firm would be penalised if it failed to finish the work by June 2013.
 Representatives of the tourism industry welcomed the government’s decision, saying increased capacity at luxury hotels would attract more foreign visitors and bring broader benefits to the economy.

“I think this decision is very good and should have been adopted years ago,” said Branko Krivokapic, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Serbia. “When you have a building that has been under construction for years… it ruins the look of the city.”

According to Belgrade’s tourist organisation, the Serbian capital has some 7,000 hotel beds and about 3,000 hostel beds. A spokesperson at the body said accommodation facilities were often over-stretched when the city hosted large events, such as the recent Eurovision song contest.

The new deadline for completing building works is expected to apply to hotels in Belgrade’s city centre, the old quarter of Zemun, the Palace of Serbia in New Belgrade, the old fairground, the monument to the Unknown Soldier and the Sava and Danube riverbanks.