Greece’s Two Major Cities Report Low Bookings

Tourists seen at the monumental gateway of Hadrian’s arch in the center of Athens. Upon releasing data on bookings in the Greek capital, the Athens-Attica Hotel Association recently referred to “a depressing performance of the destination and its hotels.”

Although bookings in Greece were reported to have increased following the June elections, the same cannot be said for reservations in major cities such as Athens and Thessaloniki due to the decrease of domestic tourism and cancellations of conferences and events, a tourism professional said last month.

The average occupancy rate of two-, three-, four- and five-star hotels in Athens recorded an 18.6 percent decline during the first six months of the year and dropped to 52.8 percent, according to the “year to date-June 2012” data released by the Athens-Attica Hotel Association.

The average price per room saw a 6.3 percent drop year-on-year and stood at 82.2 euros and the revenue per available room declined by 23.7 percent and stood at 43.4 euros, compared to the January-June 2011 period.

In June alone, occupancy dropped 21.1 percent and reached a rate of 65.5 percent, the average price per room dropped 4.2 percent and amounted to 98.7 euros and revenue per available room dropped 24.4 percent and reached 64.6 euros.

According to the association, the loss in tourism traffic and revenue of the city center hotels from 2007/2008 to date adds up to some 48 percent.

The Thessaloniki Hoteliers Association was on the same wavelength, according to recent data of Greek and foreign overnight stays in the Greek Northern city during the January-June period.

More specifically, during the first six months of the year and compared with 2011, bookings made by Greeks dropped 17.2 percent (407,346 against 491,974 last year) and reservations made by foreigners declined by 6.28 percent (261,688 from 279,222 in 2011).