Industry Reports & Trends

Attica hotel occupancy in 2006 increased 9.8 percent against the year before. Room prices were up 2.6 percent and revenue per room increased by 12.6 percent, according to Giorgos Tsakiris, president of the Attica Hoteliers’ Association, and Ioannis Retsos, the association’s secretary general.

The meeting industry is expected to grow for a fourth consecutive year, signaling an economy that continues to be strong, according to FutureWatch 2000 in a study sponsored by Meeting Professionals International and American Express.

Amadeus released a major study, Future Traveler Tribes 2020, that defines who will be traveling in the future, which groups will potentially be most dominant, and the technology solutions that will facilitate their journeys and improve their travel experience.

The Association of European Airlines released traffic and capacity data for its members recently that gives a first look at the overall traffic and capacity results for 2006. AEA members boarded 343.6 million passengers during the course of the year, an increase of 14.8 million over 2005.

With 842 million arrivals and a 4.5% growth rate, 2006 exceeded expectations as the tourism sector continued to enjoy above average results, making it a new record year for the industry. The latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer figures suggest that 2007 will consolidate this performance and turn into the fourth year of sustained growth.

The Piraeus Port Authority says it expects to attract some 300 million euros in private investment funds when it allows the private sector, through a tender, to renovate and take over the management of its passenger harbor properties. The port regions open to renovation include from the Pagoda area on the Miaouli Coast to the Krakari sea wall. According to press reports, the port authority bases its expectations on a study carried out by the Bank of Piraeus, which suggests a one and only tender competition for the renovation of the harbor front from a contractor or consortium that will manage the area.

According to the Washington-based Travel Industry Association of America, the international travel and tourism industry experienced strong growth in 2006, and additional expansion of 4.6% per year is expected over the next 10 years. Thanks to a stable economy, steady wage increases and the lack of any major recent terrorist attacks in popular vacation spots, Americans in particular have indulged their wanderlust. And in 2007, industry experts say the most popular trips will have one thing in common.

The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises has forecast a rise of around 8 percent in tourism arrivals this year, with more than 14 million tourists visiting Greece. The association says that tourist arrivals were up 7.2 percent from a year ago in January-October, compared with a 5.6 percent rise in 2005, and that the trend is set to continue.

The Attica Hoteliers’ Association announced last month that for the month of November overnights were up when compared with the same month the year before.

Although the recent problem with Sun Mediterranean – a travel agency that left Greek travelers stranded in Vienna – was a future incident, a Eurobarometer poll found that a mere 4% of Greek consumers were dissatisfied with package travel services in their country. In Germany, 6% said they were dissatisfied.