Greek hotels: 1 billion euros in renovations in 2024

The annual investments of Greek hotels for renovations, maintenance, and repairs exceeded 1 billion euros for the first time in 2024, reaching 9% of their turnover, but only 5% received a subsidy for these investments.

Of the total of these investments, amounting to 1.028 billion euros, a significant percentage of 19% - compared to 13% the previous year - representing 200 million euros, concerned investments in sustainability actions.

The total turnover of Greek hotels (80% of their revenue comes from overnight stays) increased by 8.8% compared to 2023 and amounted to 11.5 billion. euros, with the largest increase recorded in four- and five-star hotels (+10% with a turnover of 9 billion euros) and a 5% increase in one- to three-star hotels (with a turnover of 2.4 billion euros).

In addition to the clear trend of upgrading hotel capacity and the "investment" in sustainability, a small increase in the number of rooms is recorded, while key indicators such as occupancy and prices remained stable in 2024.

At the same time, demand continues to be concentrated for the most part during the summer months, indicating that the basic model of Greek tourism remains the "sun-sea". However, an upward trend in occupancy for the "shoulder" months seems to be consolidating, mainly in hotels operating continuously, i.e., 38% of the country's hotel capacity, which concerns stays in May and October.

These are some of the main conclusions emerging from the annual survey conducted by the Institute of Tourism Research and Forecasts of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels on the performance of Greek hotels in 2024. The survey was conducted on a sample of 705 hotels in the period from December 20, 2024, to February 23, 2025.

Small increase in hotels, mainly four & five star

As the findings show, in the last decade there has been a small increase in hotel units by 4%, while rooms increased by 11%, mainly due to the increase observed in three (+23% hotels, i.e. 2,973 units in 2024), four (+43%, to 1,898 units) and five (+103%, to 835 units) star hotels.

According to the survey,

• the number of hotels in our country in 2024 amounted to 10,104, rooms to 447,363, and beds to 894,854.
• 73% of hotels belong to the one to three star categories and correspond to 46.3% of rooms.
• 73% of hotels have up to 50 rooms, 62% are seasonal -representing 74% of the total room capacity-, and 53% -or 63% of rooms- are located in island destinations in the country.

Short-term rental doubled the number of beds offered

The survey showed that hoteliers continue to be concerned about issues such as operating costs, reduced occupancy outside peak months, lack of employees, and competition from short-term rentals.

The number of short-term rental beds in Greece over the last 6 years has reached 800,000, and in many destinations the ratio with hotels is 3 to 1, resulting in a total doubling of the total number of available beds without the multipliers that the hotel industry has in the Economy, underlined the president of the Greek Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Alexandros Vassilikos.

As shown by a recent study by ITEP on the contribution of hotels to the Greek economy, the hotel sector has higher product and employment multipliers than the average of the Greek economy and lower imports, with a total contribution to the Greek economy's output in 2024 of 17.8 billion euros and 5.9% of GDP compared to 4.8% in 2023.

The same study states that for every 1 million euro increase in demand for hotel services, total employment in the Greek economy increases by 30 employees. In 2024, the sector supported 143,000 indirect jobs in other sectors of the Greek economy, and 27,704 of these were new jobs, while in total, in 2024, it directly and indirectly supported over 340,000 jobs. It is estimated that the hotel sector contributed to the improvement of the external balance of the Greek economy by approximately 7.9 billion euros.

In a more general context, and in order to address the challenges, we need initiatives for Spatial Planning, land use, as well as decisions at the level of local communities and DMMOs that will have a 10-year horizon, stated Mr. Vasilikos and underlined that the percentage figures of Greek tourism may not have changed, but the absolute numbers of tourists have increased, requiring a different approach to the development of the tourism product based on qualitative characteristics. He said that I would like 2025 to be a year of mature and long-term discussion on the issues in Greek tourism.

Systematic increase in occupancy and prices in May and October

The occupancy rates of Greek hotels in 2024 per month, on average, during the summer period, did not show any difference compared to the previous year. However, in the off-season months, and especially from the beginning of the year until April, a small but systematic increase is recorded concerning hotels in continuous operation.

As in the previous year, in 2024, the occupancy rates of May, August, and October are proportional to the category of hotels and increase as the star "ladder" rises. Three-star hotels start in May with an average occupancy of 49%, proceed to August with 85%, and end in October with 42%. The corresponding rates for four-star hotels are 65%, 90%, and 58%, while for five-star hotels, they are 58%, 92%, and 58%. The increases mainly concern hotels in continuous operation.

The average price of a double room in August 2024 remained stable compared to August 2023, while for the months of May and October, there is a small but steady annual increase of approximately 6%, exclusively in hotels in continuous operation.

Thus, the average price of a double room in May 2024 was 107 euros, compared to 101 euros in May 2023 and 91 euros in the corresponding month of 2022. In October, the average price in May is 108 euros in 2024, 103 euros in 2023, and 94 euros in 2022. In August 2024, the average price reached 2023 levels at 165 euros.

In seasonal hotels, the average price in 2024 is approximately at the levels of 2023 and amounts to 108 euros in May, 179 euros in August, and 110 euros in October. In continuous operation, prices show a slight increase since 2023 and are 104 euros, 117 euros, and 103 euros, respectively, however, these units still have low prices.

Regarding the double room prices of Greek hotels in August 2024, it appears that half of the rooms are available, as in 2023, below 130 euros, 25% below 80 euros, 75% up to 216 euros, and the middle 50% from 80 to 216 euros.

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