200 rooms operational: Holiday Hotel capacity to be fully booked during SFF

A delegation of the Sarajevo Canton Government, led by Prime Minister Elmedin Konaković, visited the Hotel „Holiday“ today, hosted by the hotel's owner Rasim Bajrović. Discussions were held about the activities that have been intensively undertaken over the past two months to fully restore the functionality and former glory of Sarajevo's most famous hotel, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- Our visit today has multiple significance, primarily because this is a serious economic project. We are also here due to the fact that 110 people of various qualifications have been employed here, who were previously registered at employment bureaus. This is very important to us as a Government, and the entire system welcomes these activities. On the other hand, one of the symbols of the city of Sarajevo, which was, unfortunately, economically completely ruined by publicly known events, has been taken over by serious business hands - emphasized Prime Minister Konaković.

He also reminded of the fact that when this facility was built, it had a monopoly on the market as it was one of the few hotels existing in Sarajevo at the time, as well as the period when it reached a state of near ruin.

- After everything the employees and the hotel facility itself went through, its takeover by the leaders of the Europe Group is considered a very brave move, which is why we came to express our most direct support, but also to offer another level of cooperation we can establish. We are monitoring what is happening, and we are satisfied that in a very short time they have put this beautiful hotel into operation - pointed out Prime Minister Konaković.

The hotel owner emphasized that any form of support, especially from government representatives, means a lot to him.

- Through our investment and work, we want to restore the basic role of this facility, its full social function, but also the responsibility of the employees. Today we can already say that we have succeeded, because in two months we have opened 200 rooms, that is, the first five floors of the hotel with the ground floor, conference halls, restaurants, a caffe Inn, parking spaces, everything is operational. What remains is to completely reconstruct the 200 rooms located from the sixth to the tenth floor by the New Year. They will be completely new, with new furniture, IT systems, bathrooms - explained Bajrović.

He also announced a detailed reconstruction of the pool and fitness hall, and that with the beginning of next year, the Hotel „Holiday“ will be fully operational.

- This also means that by then an additional 90 employees will be engaged, so that a total of 200 workers will successfully maintain its full function - emphasized Bajrović.

The hotel operates, and will continue to operate in the future, as part of the mentioned group, which includes the hotels „Europe“, „Art“, „Astra“ and „Astra Garni Sarajevo“.

The current occupancy rate of the hotel is 50 percent, and the entire available capacity of 200 rooms, as many as are in use during the Sarajevo Film Festival, will be fully booked, with demand even exceeding supply.

It is also significant to note that 35 „old” workers have received their jobs at the hotel, whom the owner was not obliged to take over from the bankruptcy proceedings, but did so, primarily believing in their many years of work experience.

As announced by the Holiday, business premises within the hotel are also available for rent.