GBR: Greece’s Hospitality Sector Makes Steady Steps Towards Recovery in 2022

Santorini, Greece.

Greece’s hospitality sector managed to cover losses incurred by the pandemic last year despite the decline in arrivals, overnight stays and tourist receipts, found a monthly study carried out by analytics firm GBR Consulting.

According to GBR’s “Greek Hospitality Industry Performance” index for 2022, compared to rival destinations, Greece managed to cover significant lost ground and increase its market share.

In a comparison of six major Mediterranean tourist destinations, Turkey was the best performer marking a 3 percent drop in international arrivals and increasing its market share from 15.1 percent in 2019 to 17.4 percent in 2022.

Overall, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, and Croatia managed despite still not having fully recovered to outdo their competitors and gain significant market share. Portugal came in second with international arrivals down by 8 percent but boosting its market share to 6 percent from 5.4 percent in 2019.

Source: GBR Consulting.

Greece came in third recording an 11 percent drop in international arrivals and increasing its market share from 11 percent to 11.6 percent. Croatia also came in third with an 11 percent drop in arrivals, followed by Spain with arrivals down by 17 percent.

Indicatively, from January to October 2022, all countries under review  recorded declines in international arrivals compared to the same period in 2019.

According to GBR data, Italy and France were the worst performers.

Source: GBR Consulting

Closer to home, international arrivals to Greece by November 2022 were down by 11 percent, compared to the same period in 2019, as a result of a decreasing number of road arrivals, which accounted for 31 percent of all international arrivals in 2019. International arrivals at Greek airports fell slightly by 1 percent in 2022 over 2019 thanks to a strong summer season.

In line with the drop of international arrivals overnight stays at Greek hotels (see right) were down by 10.1 percent during 2022 compared to 2019.

Travel receipts meanwhile, were also down by 1 percent in the year to November compared to 2019.

Overall in 2022, Greece welcomed some 28 million visitors who generated approximately 17.5 billion euros.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) in Athens and Thessaloniki increased by 2 percent but dropped by 2 percent in other Greek cities.

Looking ahead, GBR analysts says the Greek hotel industry is faced with a number of challenges which may impact recovery including inflationary pressures, increasing operational costs, a shortage of staff as well as a diminishing household income which is bound to tighten travel budgets.

At the same time, analysts add that though other industries in Greece have developed diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives, the Greek hospitality industry is lagging behind.