Athens’ Popularity Remains Steady, Says Guest Satisfaction Survey

Photo source: Visit Greece

Athens’ overall guest satisfaction is holding steady with the experience offered by the city many times even exceeding the expectations of visitors, according to the 19th survey on guest satisfaction and performance of hotels of the Athens – Attica & Argosaronic Hotel Association.

Conducted by GBR Consulting and carried out in cooperation with Athens International Airport (AIA), the association’s survey was conducted during June-November 2023 on travelers from abroad that were interviewed either during their stay in a hotel in the Greek capital or before departing Athens Airport.

“2023 was a record year for tourism in Athens with more than 7 million international non-resident arrivals at Athens airport, up 10 percent from 6.4 million in 2019 and more than double compared to 10 years ago, when in 2014, 3.4 million tourist arrivals were recorded,” said GBR Consulting Managing Consultant Stefan Merkenhof while presenting the results.

Marypola Kotsi, Supervisor, Market Research Athens International Airport, presenting the main markets that came to Athens last year.

The largest number of visitors to Athens last year came from the city’s traditional markets (USA-1 million, UK-687,000, Germany-478,000, France-462,000, Italy-410,000) but also from “non-traditional” markets such as Switzerland (195,000), Netherlands (185,000), Belgium (160,000), Turkey (110,000) and Romania (109,000).

Data from the airport also showed that the city last year saw the comeback of tourists from overseas destinations such as Australia 150,000 (113 percent rise vs. 2019) and
China 95,000 (90 percent rise vs. 2019).

Guest satisfaction remains at high 8.4 score

According to the survey, the increase in tourist traffic in Athens has not negatively affected the overall experience of tourists. On the contrary, guest satisfaction has increased over the past 10 years from a low score of 7.7 in 2017 to 8.4 both in 2022 and 2023.

“Athens’ strong points include its culture, behavior of locals and entertainment and leisure offerings, making the city a ‘must-visit’ destination,” Merkenhof said, adding that the Greek capital’s main attraction is the Acropolis, which saw record levels of visitors in 2023.

More into the results, Athens appears to “have it all” and has become an attractive city for every type of traveler profile: Antiquity/history lovers, Art buffs,
Adventurers (activity lovers), Stopover travelers, Night owls, Shoppers, Foodies, Sea & sun lovers, Social travelers, Business travelers and ‘laid-back’ travelers (leisure travelers who do not have a specific interest).

The Greek capital’s hotels, restaurants, bars and shopping outlets are highly rated, while also popular are activities that add to the experience including organized sightseeing tours, museum visits, getting to know the various neighbourhoods and visits to the beaches on the coastal front.

“It is also pleasing that visitor awareness of the Saronic Gulf islands, located very close to Athens and ideal for getaways from the city, has grown significantly in recent years,” Merkenhof said.

Athens’ sentiment scores for safety, public cleanliness remain low

Stefan Merkenhof, Managing Consultant of GBR Consulting

Regarding the issues of safety and public cleanliness, tourist satisfaction dropped with scores of 7.4 and 6.4 respectively. Satisfaction regarding the condition of squares and sidewalks also was low remaining at last year’s score of 6.9.

According to Merkenhof, the specific scores are an average and depend to a very large extent on the locations of the hotels.

“However, the survey does show that some areas in the center of Athens have serious problems and need immediate actions to improve safety, cleanliness and sidewalks,” he highlighted.

Hotels in Athens

The NYX Esperia Palace Hotel was one of the “new arrivals” in Athens last year.

GBR Consulting also included data on the hotel offer in the Greek capital. According to the report, during the last decade, the number of hotels and hotel rooms in Attica increased by 5 percent and 9 percent respectively with significant growth noted in the Central Sector of Athens with 26 percent and 21 percent respectively. The largest increases were recorded in the 4- and 5-star categories, while the 3-star hotel capacity increased in units but remained relatively stable in number of rooms. The share of 1- and  2-star hotel categories showed a drop.

Moreover, GBR Consulting’s findings show that Athens hoteliers are investing and upgrading their units while new concepts are entering the market. Local and national chains are expanding and international investors are entering the industry, often in cooperation with international hotel brands.

At the same time, the short-term rental market has grown over the last decade to 14,000 active units in 2023 – downtown alone – compared to 18,000 hotel rooms in the same area. As a result, hotel occupancy in 2023 has not fully recovered to 2019 levels as there was a decrease of 1.5 percent in the comparison period 2023/19. Average Daily Rates (ADR) improved significantly by 29 percent and thus Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) improved by 27.1 percent in 2023 compared to 2019.

Merkenhof underlined that similar results were observed in the competing Mediterranean cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Rome and Istanbul with the destinations showing a decrease in occupancy and significant increases in ADR.

GBR Consulting Managing Consultant Stefan Merkenhof presenting showing the amount of short-term rentals located in downtown Athens.

“Athens has become a popular and attractive destination and has a lot of potential to develop further,” Merkenhof said, adding that the Greek capital has yet to reach the visitor levels of its competition, such as Rome and Barcelona.

However, he pointed out, in recent years Barcelona has been facing forms of overtourism where residents are increasingly stating that the tourism sector is harming the city.

“Athens has certainly not reached this level, but to prevent such a development requires planning and strategy and certainly not uncontrolled development,” he said.

Commenting on the survey’s results, Lambrini Karanasiou-Zoulovits, the president of the Athens – Attica & Argosaronic Hotel Association, highlighted that Athens is popular but that its popularity must be “protected” by further improving services, “offering a smile” and ensuring that the city’s visitors will have excellent experiences.

Athens-Attica and Argosaronic Hotel Association President Lambrini Karanasiou-Zoulovits.

“Those involved in tourism at state, local and professional level must coordinate and jointly take actions to strengthen and upgrade the destination which will help to significantly reduce the deviations that Athens has from the other capitals – its competitors and to turn directly to markets that will support the destination,” she said.

Other interesting finds from the survey included that 43 percent of visitors, when planning a trip to Athens, do not consider sustainability issues. Some 34 percent of the sample of visitors surveyed does plan according to sustainability, but on the condition that it does not create any difficulty for them. Only 23 percent (one out of four travelers) take environmental issues and sustainability seriously, the survey showed.