Greece’s tourism sector optimistic about 2018 summer season

Greece’s tourism sector will continue to grow in 2018, with hoteliers optimistic about this year’s season. The positive outlook has been forecasted in a recent survey by GBR Consulting which looks at the years expectations for both occupancy and average room rates. Amid the good news, a wave of new hotels are being built throughout the country.

International tourist arrivals are up in Greece and are predicted to continue rising throughout 2018 to reach record heights in 2020. After the best season ever which saw 350,000 tourist arrivals in July last year, this summer those figures are set to climb further. Some experts believe that by 2020 the number of tourist arrivals could be as high as 460,000 according to econometric models.

This is in line with a rise in tourism rates all over Europe which are also at a record high. City hot-spots and resorts all over the continent are flourishing with Europe remaining the globe’s premier travel hot-spot. Leading the pack are Amsterdam, Lisbon, Porto and Prague which are enjoying the strongest growth, according to a recent report by PwC.

To deal with an influx of tourists, there are a host of new hotels being constructed around the country. The sector is attracting a sustained level of investment both in Athens and Thessaloniki as well as in regional areas. Due to such sustained investments in anticipation of increasing tourism numbers, a number of major investment projects are close to being completed in time for summer. 

For the two major cities in Greece, the next few years will bring openings of a range of new 5-star luxury hotels as well as numerous boutiques and serviced apartments. In Athens for example, The Yazbeck Group have renovated a property on the intersection of Académia and Omirour Streets to turn it into the 5 star Academia of Athens. In Thesalonikki, The Olympion City Hotel, a 5-star, 8-storey property with 27 rooms will open in late 2019.

Even amid a wave of increasing competition, city hoteliers believe that their room rates would increase over the season. Of the respondents, 53% expect that their average room rate would rise by 2% to 5%. A further 28% of respondents are even more optimistic and believe that their room rates would rise by upwards of 5% this season. Hoteliers are not only optimistic about their own hotels, but also about the market in general, with roughly 60% of respondents expecting 2018 to bring increases of over 2%. 

George Spyropoulos, a renowned hotelier from Athens commented on the industry; “Athens tourism is currently booming. This is evident in the occupancy rates of all hotels in Athens - in the increase of arrivals at the Athens Airport and in the fact that all the more new nationalities visit the Greek capital. Also, Athens’ seasonality has expanded especially in the summer months.” 

Greek Resorts

Resort hoteliers are eyeing an excellent 2018 as well, expecting significant improvements in both occupancy levels and room rates. Overall, about half of the resort sector is expecting growth rates of between 2–5% for for their hotels. The majority of respondents stated that 2018 will be a strong year for the market in general, with 25% of hoteliers expecting upwards of 5% occupancy increases. 

The majority of new hotel 5-star rooms built between 2010 and 2018 are located in the Dodecanese archipelago, which is situated south of Turkey and include the islands Cos and Rhodes. The Cyclades islands are expecting the biggest growth in luxury apartments and units but this sector is still comparatively small in size compared to hotel rooms. 

The survey results have been taken from the GBR Consulting Barometer. The Barometer is a regular survey which obtains insights about the Greek hotel industry's optimism about the season to come. GBR Consulting is a hospitality and tourism management consulting firm which has been active since the early 1990s. The group also publishes reports and studies to support the Greek tourism industry on market trends.