New flights bring new investments - Surcin needs EUR 17.6 mil to build hotel at airport and marina on the Sava

Surcin has high hopes when it comes to municipality development through tourism. A couple of big projects have already been prepared and the municipality has recently presented itself at the finished investment conference in Moscow with two of them- a mini marina Surcin and the Airport hotel.

Although the municipal administration could not confirm for eKapija whether they achieved a specific agreement, they are optimistic their implementation will follow soon.

- I can confirm there will definitely be a hotel at the airport, very quickly - Vesna Salovic, president of the city board Surcin, says for eKapija. – Majority of permits has been collected and we have firm guarantees of the authorized institutions that documentation will be complete.

The Belgrade municipality points out that, having in mind plans and ambitions of the airport, there is a [potential and a need for the construction of the hotel in the airport zone or immediately near the airport and it has been ,mentioned earlier, its construction is directly related to development of Surcin airport business development.

- The arrival of the regional leader in airline, such as Air Serbia, definitely increases passengers’ flow which speeds up investors’ decisions through business plan parameters – municipal administration representatives mention.

When asked whether there were the interested ones in the domestic trade for the construction of the hotel in Surcin, the municipal representatives say they will insist that domestic operations are the priority when it comes to the hotel construction implementation and they are inviting our businessmen to apply.

Hotel near the Belgrade airport should have 3-4 stars, 150 rooms of an average size 26-30m2.

This catering facility would be for individual business guests, business groups, especially for smaller business meetings of up to 50 people or tours, in cooperation with airline companies. It was planned the hotel to have 8 to 10 modular meeting halls with an overall capacity of 200 people.

Apart from standard hotel public premises, the hotel should include a smaller fitness/wellness center of some 300 square meters, including a sauna and smaller swimming pools, a business center, an a-la-cart daily restaurant, a kiosk, a boutique of some 70 m2.

The municipality estimates the investment in this kind of a tourist facility would total some EUR 80.000-90.000 EUR per room so the overall investment without external infrastructure costs would total EUR 11-13 mil.

As it was planned, this kind of a facility could generate EUR 25-30.000 per room, i.e. EUR 3,5 and 4,5 mil of an annual profit in a stabilized year.

Italians still in for the marina

The idea of the construction of the marina at the Sava, six kilometers away from Surcin and a kilometer downstream from Ostruznica Bridge, is more than two years old and is one of the priorities of the big project Belgrade on water. Together with the municipality, the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce initiated the project and developed a pilot project and helped in bringing Italian partners. However, although it was expected that we will step into 2014 with a known investor, the start of the construction of a new nautical center will probably be left out this year.

(future look of the marina in Surcin)

- It is true that even after a visit of the Italian trade delegation, we have still communicating with them intensively. Italy has results in implementation of this kind of projects, from Venice to Brindisi, however, no one has benefited position, not even the Italians until we sign the contract – the Surcin municipality representatives say for our portal.

Apart from enabling ships to stop and tank fuel, a marina in Surcin would be the place where crews could have rest. Along the dock, construction of the hotel and a wellness center is planned and the investment is estimated to EUR 4, 6 miil.

The Surcin municipality says they have all necessary permits for the marina construction which would, together with the remaining three priority projects for which documentation has been prepared – construction of the Airport hoteenil and a hotel in Dobanovci and Progare, should significantly improve tourist offer in Surcin.

The Surcin municipality has a convenient geo-strategic position. The nearness of the E 70-75 highway, construction of the E 763 Belgrade-South Jadran, so-called Corridor 11, the Nikola Tesla airport, railway infrastructure and the Sava river coat make Surcin very interesting to investors.

I.B.