Pre-Covid Occupancy Levels Still Not Achievable for Athens Hoteliers  

Athens, Greece. Photo source: Visit Greece / Y. Skoulas.

Athens hotels are still struggling to achieve pre-Covid 2019 occupancy levels reaching 63.7 percent in the first four months of the year down by 5.9 percent compared to 2019, according to data released this week by the Athens-Attica & Argosaronic Hotel Association (EXAAA) in cooperation with GBR Consulting.

In April, hotels in the Greek capital reached 75.7 percent occupancy up by 5 percent over March and by 16.6 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

In the four-month period, EXAAA data shows a 17.2 percent increase in average daily rate (ADR) and a 10.3 percent rise in revenue per available room (RevPAR). Athens hotel rates and revenues were still reduced in April compared to other rival cities such as Istanbul where ADR was up by 61.9 percent and RevPAR in London by 47.5 percent.

Commenting on the data, Athens hoteliers underline the importance of formulating a strategy that will establish the Greek capital into a 12-month destination that can attract higher-spending travelers. EXAAA adds that decisions will have to made as to whether the city wishes to attract “quantitative tourism” or “qualitative tourism“.

Lastly, the association reiterated its call to the government to take immediate action and to regulate short-term rental activity which is taking a toll on the viability of legally operating hotels.

“In the coming years, hotel beds will be added to the city’s hotel map together with the continuous and unregulated increase of tourist beds at other types of accommodation which to this day have not been documented,” EXAAA said.