Arrivals from Turkey Lift Thessaloniki Hotel Overnight Stays in 2023

Makedonia Palace, Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki welcomed a 116 percent increase in overnight stays by travelers from Turkey last year which contributed to a 14.75 percent rise in overall night stays in the city, found GBR Consulting data, released this week by the Thessaloniki Hotels Association (THA).

More specifically, overnight stays were up by 14.75 percent over 2022 (2,125,433)  to 2,438,842 but still down by 0.13 percent over pre-pandemic 2019 (2,442,020).

Top source markets supporting Thessaloniki in 2023 were the Greeks accounting for 46.40 percent of all overnight stays at 1,131,690 and marking an 11.21 percent rise over 2022 (1,017,614).

According to the data, most international markets marked increases over 2022 reaching 1,307,152 night stays in 2023 up by 17.99 percent.

Turkish travelers accounted for 94,212 overnight stays in 2023 compared to 43,619 a year earlier.

Makedonia Palace Thessaloniki

Declining figures were reported in the Israeli and Russian markets due to conflicts in both countries.

Overnight stays from Russia dropped by 66.86 percent in 2023 compared to 2022 to 15,342 leaving the country out of the city’s Top 10 source markets for the first time since 2010.

Overnight stays by Israeli travelers dropped by 0.52 percent to 125,594 compared to 2022 and by 32.46 percent over pre-Covid 2019.

According to GBR Consulting data, Thessaloniki managed to see a 17.6 percent increase in RevPAR (revenue per available room) to 66.11 euros in 2023 over 2022 and in ARR (average room rate) by 9.1 percent.

However when compared to rival markets Thessaloniki remains last in terms of room rates and revenues.

Last month, THA President Andreas Mandrinos underlined the importance of formulating a carefully designed tourism strategy that would set clear goals and address recurrent problems.