CBRE: Greece Among Top 5 Countries in Europe Attracting Hotel Investment Interest

Photo source: Athens – Attica & Argosaronic Hotel Association

The hotel segment in Greece and Athens appears to be winning over investor interest driven by robust tourism figures and reflecting the country’s strong position on the international market, according to the 2024 European Hotel Investor Intentions Survey released this week by CBRE, a leader in commercial real estate services and investments.

CBRE’s survey, conducted between January and February 2024 at a global level, delved into the investment appetite of hotel investors around the globe and enquired about their preferred strategies and markets for 2024.

Greece ranked fifth among the Top 10 countries set to attract investor interest in the hotel market this year and Athens ninth among the leading 10 markets expected to see the highest investment interest.

According to the CBRE survey conducted on 60 investors, including hotel owners, developers, and private equity firms, Spain leads the way in terms of investor interest in hotels, followed by the UK, Italy, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Ireland, Germany, and Sweden.

Analysts go on to note that while demand for resorts remains strong, hotels located in central business districts now lead in terms of popularity with gateway cities dominating as the preferred destinations.

“Spain is booming due to historically high tourism numbers and strong operating performance from hoteliers,” said Kenneth Hatton, managing director – Head of Hotels, Europe at CBRE. “Long-term forecasts for tourism in Europe suggest that forecast supply levels [in the region] will be insufficient to meet this demand,” said Hatton.

Source: 2024 European Hotel Investor Intentions Survey, CBRE Research

Indicative of the trend, more than 60 hotel projects valued at billions of euros are in the pipeline throughout Greece in the next four years supported by the availability of national and EU resilience funds.

At the same time, last year, more than 2.05 billion euros went into the construction of new hotels in Greece, and mainly of 4- and 5-star units.