Only a handful of projects have sought subsidies for the construction and renovation of hotels in Belgrade in anticipation of the EXPO 2027 exhibition, with a total planned investment of €231 million. This information was provided to the eKapija portal by the Development Agency of Serbia.
Investors have less than three months remaining to apply, as the deadline is December 31.
As reported previously by Nova ekonomija, the budget allocates 22.6 billion dinars over the next three years, amounting to a total of 67.8 billion dinars (approximately €578 million) for this purpose.
According to the RAS, several potential projects have applied under the Decree outlining criteria for awarding incentives to attract direct investments in the hotel accommodation sector, specifically related to the international specialized exhibition EXPO BELGRADE 2027.
More than 70 percent of these applications focus on constructing new accommodation facilities (hotels), with a planned investment of around €200 million. The remaining projects involve the renovation of existing facilities, amounting to approximately €31 million.
About half of the proposed projects are categorized as four-star hotels, while the others have yet to be classified as either four or five stars due to pending documentation.
The agency emphasized that incentive funds will only be allocated to projects that meet the specified regulatory criteria.
The first subsidy for hotel development for the Expo was awarded to Airport City West Gate doo Belgrade, based in New Belgrade, for the construction and equipping of the “AC Hotel by Marriott Airport City Belgrade,” which will feature 209 hotel rooms.
For this project, Airport City received €5.9 million, and under its contract with the Ministry of Economy, it is required to invest at least €29.9 million in tangible and intangible assets within the next two years.
