LONDON— Despite the challenging economic and political climate, the European hotel industry is reportedly continuing to attract investment. According to experts speaking at this years 14th Annual European Hotel Industry Investment Conference at the Royal Lancaster Hotel here, although the forecast for the future wasn’t clear, it was noted that market fundamentals are holding strong. Executives on hand said that the last 12 months have proven to be prosperous for the European hotel investment market. They maintained the European markets have held their nerve and owners bringing assets to the table have found a variety of different capital sources willing to step up. The forecast for 2003 was mixed, according to attendees, with most predicting that there will be some tough markets out there, while the tried-and-true areas hold their own. Moreover, it was contended that the variety of capital available in the European market today is expected to mean the investment markets can look forward to a “reasonable” 2003.
