However, Noel Attard, general manager at the Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square Vilnius, says that even ten hotel chains as renowned as Kempinski will not help to considerably increase tourist flows unless Vilnius takes targeted efforts to have more direct flight routes.
"Lithuania needs a national carrier if you want to boost your tourism sector," Attard said.
He said that Lithuania's EU presidency should help the hotel to gain a foothold. Apart from that, Kempinski mostly links its business in Vilnius to the Scandinavian countries, Britain, and Germany.
If the plans finally reach fulfillment, the hotel will open seven years after the start of construction. It will have 96 rooms and suites, as well as SPA and conference facilities.
The opening of the hotel in the Old Town of Vilnius has been repeatedly delayed.
It had been initially announced that the Kempinski hotel would open in the first half of 2007, but the opening date was later pushed back several times. The group has given no public explanation for the delay.
Construction on the hotel began in late 2005. It was announced that AAA would invest more than 110 million litas (EUR 32m) in the hotel.
AAA Cathedral Square Hotel, a company of the AAA Group, the developer of the hotel in Lithuania, has said that the Kempinski Hotel in Vilnius aims to become one of the most competitive health and business tourism centers in Eastern Europe.
