Hotels & Accommodations

In efforts to tackle illegitimate home rentals, stem the practice which appears to be taking a bite out of the accommodation business and bring in much-needed cash to state coffers, the Greek finance ministry is considering taxing short-term leases by 5 percent.

The Muskita Group through GM Hotel – Tourist Enterprises SA renewed its collaboration with Spanish chain Melia Hotels International for the operation of the Melia Athens this week.

Airbnb and the City of New York will meet in court following NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent approval of a law impacting online home rental companies like Airbnb. In response, the short-term rental company sued the city, its mayor and the state attorney general.

All the more cash-strapped Greeks are renting out their properties to tourists in efforts to make ends meet while taking advantage of a vague legal framework, according to a survey by Danos Real Estate, Consulting & Valuation.

Α meeting between Attica’s hotel and tourism employees and Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura on Wednesday ended in a deadlock after the unionists demanded the government scrap a decision which will cut into their insurance savings, they said.

Hotels on Amorgos and Syros will now include Greek products and dishes on their breakfast menus as the two Cycladic islands recently became the latest destinations to join the “Greek Breakfast” program, an initiative of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.

In efforts to ensure fair play, Greek finance ministry officials are examining measures to tackle a growing shadow hospitality sector resulting from unregistered short-term rentals which cost the economy some 250 million euros annually in lost taxes.

The brand new Electra Metropolis, the fifth hotel of Electra Hotels & Resorts, has opened its doors in the building which up until 2004 housed the Education Ministry on Mitropoleos Street in the heart of Athens.

Greece is attracting the interest of major chains for the construction of new hotels and the investment in new accommodation enterprises.

Small accommodation businesses active in tourism have taken a blow this year, recording decreased arrivals and overnight stays as well as diminishing revenue, according to the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETKE).