Thessaloniki, Greece: Hotel Overnights Increase, But Not Room Rates

Photo © Aggelos Ekonomou

Overnight stays in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, recorded a 15.68 percent increase during the first half of 2014 compared to last year, the Thessaloniki Hotels Association said in an announcement on 30 July.

The association said the increase followed three years of continuous decline in the total number of overnights (2010-2012).

According to data, during January-June 2014, hotels in Thessaloniki recorded 909,064 overnight stays compared to 785,856 during the same period in 2013.

The association said Greek visitors were returning to Thessaloniki as overnights by Greeks increased by 13.23 percent . Overnight stays of Cypriots (+41.46 percent), Turks (+21.7 percent), Bulgarians (+28.71 percent) and Germans (43.46 percent) have also shown significant increases.

On the other hand, the association recorded a sharp drop in the number of overnight stays of tourists from Israel (-47.67 percent) and Egypt (-29.63 percent). A drop in the overnight stays of Russians (-4.92 percent) was also recorded.

Room rates drop

The association also informed that the city’s hotels have recorded a decline in the average room rates.

According to a study by GBR Consulting, during the first half of 2014, the average room rate at hotels in Thessaloniki dropped by 0.5 percent while revenue per available room (RevPar) was also particularly low (38.80 euros).

The association added that Thessaloniki came in last in terms of occupancy, average room rate and revenue per available room in a benchmarking report that included 10 other similarly sized European cities (Antwerp, Birmingham, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Budapest, Hamburg, Manchester, Salzburg).

“This shows that as a tourist destination Thessaloniki still has a long way to go,” the association concluded.