Hospitality News

Speakers at the last month’s general assembly of the Panhellenic Hoteliers’ Federation told hoteliers that the worse is yet to come for small and mid-size hotels. “Only the big hotel units that offer a brand-name product and our unique small city hotels will survive within the tourism business market in the coming years,” said federation member Andreas Andreadis.

Representatives from the 22 room and apartment rental associations throughout Greece arrived in Athens last month to attend the annual general assembly of the Business Federation of Rented Rooms and Apartments of Greece.

At a press call last month, executives from the Mont Parnes Casino complex outlined the many changes that have taken place and that are underway at the complex. Owners intend to invest more than 110 million euros in renewal projects.

The Greek Chamber of Hotels says that the increase in opening hours of shops and museums in the country, as recently proposed by the government, is a positive step towards bolstering tourism.

Hoteliers in the Athens area continue to face painful economic problems and some even face extreme difficulty when it comes to paying running monthly expenses. They say the strong investment in modernization carried out prior to the 2004 Athens Olympics, in conjunction with post-Olympic drop in arrivals, places them in an almost dead-end situation.

Trendwatching.com – an Amsterdam-based independent trend agency that uncovers global consumer trends – says that the desire for a more luxurious “home away from home” has become a popular global trend.

After some two years of radical renovations activity, the Airotel Group of Hotels re-opened its Achaia Beach property, which sits a mere four kilometers from the commercial center and port of Patras.

November 2004 saw a considerable decline in occupancy at Athens hotels of all categories, compared with the same month in 2003, according to the Attica Hotel Association. In some categories, the drop exceeds 25 percent.

Grecotel’s newest hotel, the Larissa Imperial, held its grand opening recently amid hundreds of special guests from the political and cultural sectors.

Athens now has that particular accommodation for everybody, from posh to up-market to business to boutique to hostels. The newest addition to the variety of lodgings came recently with the opening of Seriramis, a hotel with a totally different concept in design and color, a 21st-century creation.