The hospitality industry in Poland is entering a difficult phase. Demand is slowly recovering, but competition is growing faster than the number of guests. In such conditions, the winners are not those who can build a hotel, but those who create something more than just a place to sleep. Andrzej Bartkowski, President of MCC Mazurkas Conference Centre & Hotel**** in Ożarów Mazowiecki, talks about which strategies actually work in today’s industry and how to build a resilient business model in changing market conditions.
The Polish hotel market has still not returned to its pre-pandemic stability. According to data from Statistics Poland (GUS), the average occupancy rate of facilities in Poland ranges between 40% and 50%. This means that many of them do not reach the profitability threshold. For hotels based solely on accommodation, this translates into daily balancing on the edge of profitability and constant searching for ways to close the budget.
Rooms Are Not Enough
Demand for hotel services is gradually recovering. This is confirmed by GUS data showing that in the first half of 2025, the number of hotel guests increased by more than 11% year-on-year. Unfortunately, this growth does not translate into a significant improvement in occupancy. New rooms and new facilities continue to enter the market, spreading demand across an ever-growing number of hotels. Additionally, the industry now has to compete with the rapidly expanding short-term rental market. Platforms such as Airbnb are effectively capturing part of the demand, especially in large cities, increasing competitive pressure beyond the traditional hotel market.
“Hotel rooms are necessary, but basing the entire business solely on accommodation is no longer effective. It used to be enough — there were few hotels and the economy was growing dynamically. Today, competition is enormous” says Andrzej Bartkowski.
“We knew from the beginning that we needed to take a different direction. Conferences, congresses, events, gastronomy, and catering are now the foundation of our operations. We have few individual guests because the hotel thrives on large events — sometimes for several hundred or even more than a thousand people. Something is always happening: new challenges, new events, and new ideas to implement. In my opinion, only a hotel that is not just a place to stay, but a space for work, meetings, and events, has a chance to function well,” the expert adds.
Out of Necessity, Not Ambition
The history of the Mazurkas Group has been a story of diversification from the very beginning. It all started in the early 1990s with a travel agency specializing in inbound tourism. The company developed dynamically, bringing an increasing number of foreign guests to Poland. It quickly turned out that the lack of its own accommodation base was becoming a real limitation to further growth. The hotel was therefore initially intended as a supplement and reinforcement of the business. Over time, however, it became the foundation for further development directions.
“MCC Mazurkas is primarily a place for large meetings and events, often for several hundred, and sometimes even a thousand or more people. The hotel lives on the fact that something is always happening there. One day it’s a medical congress, the next a training session for an international company, the third a gala or themed event. This model provides stability because we are not dependent on tourism seasonality or on whether someone comes to Warsaw just for the weekend. Catering complements this activity. Banquets, cocktail receptions, or outdoor events are carried out in this formula — we go wherever the client wants. Thanks to this, the team’s experience and skills can also work outside the hotel walls. This approach shows that building a business around people and competencies is a sustainable and solid path for development” the expert emphasizes.
Price or Quality? A Market at a Crossroads
One of the biggest challenges in today’s hospitality industry is price pressure. Clients are increasingly guided solely by how much a given service will cost them. In such conditions, competing through quality, ideas, or creativity becomes much more difficult than it was a dozen or several dozen years ago.
“Today in the West, in many places, quality and experience still matter more. I believe that in a few years it will be the same here. As the economy develops and wealth increases, clients will begin to appreciate quality, ideas, and reliable work. Because in the long run, the winner is not the one who is the cheapest, but the one who does things well, consistently, and with the client in mind. And that is what builds a brand people want to return to” concludes Andrzej Bartkowski.
