Greek Hotels Least Developed in Branding

Although among the world’s best, Greece’s hotels are not aware of the benefits of brand names, according to a recent study. The 2005 Greek Hotel Branding Report, which is the first of its kind for the Greek tourism market, explores the extent of branding among Greek hotels and presents all hotel brands that have built a presence in the country’s hospitality industry.

“Greece boasts one of the world’s largest and most mature hotel sectors with nearly 9,000 businesses and a 342,000-room capacity, yet it is among the least developed in regard to branding,” says Dr. Dimitris Koutoulas, the study’s author.

“Only 3.4% of the country’s hotels (controlling 16.8% of the total room capacity) have an affiliation either with a Greek or an international brand, a situation that reflects the orientation of most accommodation businesses towards the package tour market and their close co-operation with tour operators,” says the Athens-based tourism consultant.

The 36-page report in ludes the 71 brands that are present in Greece. These brands are grouped into four categories – international brands, national brands, local brands and Cypriot brands.

Several tables contain all 296 hotels with a brand affiliation and their room capacities as well as the 84 hotels that are members of hotel consortia. The appendix includes the websites of all the hotel brands.

The report shows that Grecotel, Best Western, Cyprus-based Louis, Mitsis and Iberostar are the only companies active in Greece that have built significant portfolios of branded hotels with 31, 22, 16, 13 and 11 units, respectively. Grecotel, the country’s largest hotel operator, controls 6,626 rooms or 1.9% of the total room capacity available at Greek hotels.

Global brands, such as IHG’s InterContinental and Holiday Inn, Accor’s Club Med, Sofitel and Novotel, Hilton, Starwood’s Luxury Collection as well as Marriott and Hyatt, have established a limited presence, with each one of these brands having up to four hotels in Greece, according to the report.

As well, it says a comparatively large share has been secured by hotel brands directly managed or affiliated with the major European tour operators such as the predominantly all-inclusive resort hotels of Robinson Club, Magic Life, Club alltoura, Calimera, LTI and Iberostar, the latter operating 11 Greek hotels with 2,590 rooms.

Regarding Greek brands, second to Grecotel is Mitsis with a capacity of 3,546 rooms in 13 hotels. Other national brands include Aldemar, Helios, Divanis, Capsis, Electra, Amalia, Chandris and AKS.

There are also several strong local brands in the country’s main resort areas, such as Maris on Crete, Esperia on Rodos and Kipriotis on Kos.

A growing number of Greek hotels are opting for consortium membership, with 84 hotels having joined international networks such as the Leading Hotels of the World, Great Hotels Organisation and Small Luxury Hotels. The report is available from the author at d.koutoulas@ba.aegean.gr.

Branded Hotels in Greece