Greek Hoteliers Count on Easter to Boost Occupancy Levels Past 2019

Greek hoteliers are expecting occupancy levels over the extended four-day Easter weekend (April 14-17) to reach 100 percent based on prebookings so far.

Top Easter holiday destinations, according to the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation (POX), are Corfu, Hydra, Chios, Ioannina, Patmos, Loutra Edipsos (Evia), Kavala, Thassos, Pelion, Santorini, Mykonos, Crete, the South Aegean, Halkidiki and the Peloponnese.

POX President Grigoris Tasios expects occupancy levels already ranging 70 to 90 percent at operating hotels to reach full capacity and even exceed pre-Covid 2019 levels.

Tasios added however that approximately 30 percent of seasonal hotel operations will open during Holy Week. Indicatively, half of seasonal hotels on Santorini will open for Easter. Tasios said the majority of hotels in the country will have launched operations by May.

Hellenic Hoteliers Federation Grigoris Tasios.

Meanwhile, according to POX, in Athens and Thessaloniki, hotel occupancy levels are satisfactory with the exception of the Orthodox Easter period.

“After the shock of the pandemic, tourist traffic for the Easter period is returning to normal levels for the season and is a first ‘warm-up’ for the 2023 summer season that will follow,” said Tasios.

At the same time, short-term rentals providers are also reporting increased bookings for the Easter holiday expected to give hosts a much-needed boost ahead of the summer season.

Airbnb-style operations at traditional destinations are nearly 100 percent booked, according to data released by the Panhellenic Network of E-Real Estates.

“Bookings from our key markets are at pre-Covid levels and this means that, barring the unexpected, we are heading for a good lead in May in terms of tourist arrivals and occupancy levels. We are optimistic that this year we will at least recover the figures of 2019, which was the best year for Greek tourism,” said the Tasios.