Thessaloniki Hotels Occupancy Rates on the Rise

The survey was presented during an event attended by Thessaloniki Tourism Organization president Voula Patoulidou; Thessaloniki Hotels Association president Andreas Mandrinos and Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris.

Thessaloniki hotels achieved 70.8 percent occupancy rates in 2017, up by 3.3 percent compared to 2016, said the head of the city’s hotel association Andreas Mandrinos during the presentation of a traveler satisfaction survey last week.

The annual report, carried out for the seventh consecutive year by the Thessaloniki Hotels Association (THA) with the support of GBR Consulting, examined tourist satisfaction and hotel performance for 2017.

According to the findings, travelers gave the city a score of 8.0 for its hotels, bars, restaurants, cafes and shopping centers and for its diverse cultural, gastronomy and entertainment offerings, with 96 percent of the respondents saying they would like to visit Thessaloniki again.

At the same time, the report found that visitors to the city were not at all satisfied with issues related to cleanliness, safety, pollution and information, resulting in a drop of the score to 8.0 from 8.2 in 2016.

Despite expressing their satisfaction with the overall results, Thessaloniki hoteliers said they were concerned about the average room rate, which they said was very low.

Indicatively, foreign tourists accounted for 52 percent of all overnight stays with Greeks at 48 percent.

Thessaloniki, northern Greece.

What motivated travelers to visit Thessaloniki? Millennial crowds as well as those in the 30-50 bracket said they like the city’s “character” while the 50+ noted the landmarks, archaeological and cultural sites with 17 percent in this age group visiting the city for health reasons.

In terms of purpose of visit: 50 percent said they visit Thessaloniki for recreation – mainly from the US, Germany and Russia, and 28 percent for business – from Cyprus, Romania and Serbia.

According to the same survey, Cypriot and Russian travelers were the highest spenders.