Occupancy Up For Athens Hotels

Athens hotels had an increased occupancy rate for the month of October 2006, as well as for the first ten months of last year, while the prices remained about the same, according to the Attica Hoteliers’ Association (EXA).

For the ten-month period, January through October, the average occupancy for Attica hotels was 71 percent compared with 64.5 percent for the same period last year, which was a significant ten percent increase.

This occupancy rate increase was among the biggest for a large European city. It exceeded the rates in cities such as Munich at 70.6 percent, Berlin at 69.6 percent and Madrid at 69 percent.

Giorgos Tsakiris, president of the association, reported that although the increase in overnight stays during the ten-month period reached ten percent, the room prices were low and presented only a minimal increase of about 1.5 percent. This amount falls short by five percent of the increase in the operating costs of the Attica hotels, and so the net financial results reported are marginal.

The report concludes that demand for hotel rooms traditionally falls sharply after November 15 every year, a reminder once again for the need to develop new markets such as conference tourism and city break tourism.