Markets
Sarego Group brokers and accompanies hotel real estate in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, the Alps, the Mediterranean and the Adriatic as well as in Türkiye. Five regions with mandates of our own. Everything beyond that through partners on the ground.
Core markets: Where we work
Austria
Switzerland & Germany
The Alps
Mediterranean & Adriatic
Türkiye
And overseas
Hotels add up the same way everywhere. They are bought differently everywhere: land transfer rules, business lease, concession.
Austria: Home market
Vienna, the provincial capitals and the holiday regions form the market where we began.
The ownership side is predominantly private: families in the second or third generation, alongside private foundations and family offices. Institutional owners are found above all with city hotels in Vienna and Salzburg. In the holiday regions own operation prevails, in the cities the lease or the management agreement. Land transfer rules deserve attention. They are a matter for the provinces, and each province regulates acquisition by persons from abroad and secondary residences differently. In Tyrol, Salzburg and Vorarlberg this review belongs at the start of a transaction and not at the end.
Switzerland & Germany: Two neighbouring markets
The two neighbouring markets lie close together and yet follow very different rules.
In Switzerland the Lex Koller limits the acquisition of land by persons abroad. Business premises are in principle exempt, and hotels usually fall under that; the classification in the individual case should nevertheless be clarified before the price is discussed. Germany knows no comparable barrier. There, real estate transfer tax, deal structure and the operator's credit standing shape the picture. Buyers are more often institutional, lease and management agreements are the norm, and the market reacts to interest rate moves faster than the Austrian one.
Every market has rules of its own.
The Alps: AT · CH · DE · IT
One region across four national borders that behaves like a single market.
From Vorarlberg to South Tyrol, from the Bernese Oberland to the Salzkammergut the same arithmetic applies: two seasons, high investment cycles and a business usually held within the family. Sales rarely arise from economic distress. More often because succession is missing or a pending refurbishment exceeds the property's strength. Buyers are private investors, operator groups and, increasingly, developers with apartment concepts. Whoever buys here takes on staff, regular guests and a location that cannot be repeated.
Mediterranean & Adriatic: IT · HR · ES
Three countries in which property and business often go legally separate ways.
In Italy the business often sits in its own company and is handed over by way of a business lease, the affitto d'azienda. Whoever buys only the building has not acquired the business with it. Land near the coast can be subject to public domain and is then usable only under concessions. Croatia knows a comparable figure in the maritime domain along the coast. In Spain resort hotels and strong operator brands shape the market. In all three countries the review begins with the same question: what exactly is for sale.
Türkiye: Rules of its own
A market with its own acquisition rules and with a long breath.
Hotel properties lie predominantly on the Aegean and the Mediterranean, with Istanbul as a city market of its own. Part of the land in tourist use is owned by the state and left to operators for long-term use. What is then sold is the right of use together with the building, not the land. Acquisition by foreign persons is possible but subject to restrictions by area and size, which is why transactions frequently run through a Turkish company. Buyers are domestic groups, investors from the Gulf region and European operators.
Overseas we work with partners on the ground.
And overseas: Partner network
Outside the core markets we hold no mandates of our own, but enquiries for them reach us regularly.
Outside our core markets we work with selected partners on the ground, in Europe, the United States, Asia, Australia and South America. Your point of contact remains Sarego.
