Greek destinations with the largest increase in direct hotel bookings in 2025

At last year's levels, but with fluctuations by region and with some surprises for established and emerging destinations, the number of bookings made by individual travelers directly on the official websites of Greek hotels for stays throughout 2025 is being formed.

The average price per night as well as the average revenue in Greek hotels for the 12 months of 2025 show an increase of 9% (for each of the two indicators), compared to the corresponding levels last year.

These result from a survey by the company Nelios, which draws data on bookings from individual travelers at its partner hotels. The data concerns reservations made until the end of February of this year in more than 350 hotels of all sizes and categories nationwide and concerns stays for the whole of 2025.

Upward from the second quarter

2025 begins with a negative sign in terms of the number of direct reservations in Greek hotels (-15% decrease in the first quarter), while from the second quarter (+1%) and onwards an upward trend begins (+8% in the third "summer" quarter), which in fact peaks in percentage terms in the last quarter of 2025 (+25%).

A similar upward trend is also recorded in revenues from direct reservations in hotels, especially in the third and fourth quarters where the increases are strong, of the order of 10% and 35%, while prices (ADR) also increase by 5% and 18%, respectively.

Emerging and established destinations are rising significantly in travelers' preferences for holidays in 2025, while others, according to the latest available data, are "falling behind", mainly due to the uncertainty related to the recent seismic activity in Santorini.

"Take-off" of reservations in Thessaly, Halkidiki, and Epirus

In particular, an impressive increase in pre-reservations, exceeding 100%, is recorded for hotels in Thessaly and Halkidiki, while Epirus follows in third place (62%).

Emblematic tourist destinations of our country show strong double-digit growth rates in online pre-reservations for 2025, such as Crete (+48%), the Ionian Islands (+38%), and the Dodecanese (+21%), while pre-reservations for hotels in the North Aegean fluctuate at last year's levels.

The impact of the recent seismic activity in Santorini and the uncertainty it caused among the traveling public is evident. As can be seen in the trends of pre-bookings for the Cyclades, the destination shows the largest decrease for 2025, in the order of 21% compared to last year.

The concern for Santorini, which translated into a drop in pre-bookings for the Cyclades compared to last year, also seems to have an impact on demand for Crete and Athens as these destinations constitute an important hub for the transition of tourists to the island. According to Nelios data, pre-bookings for hotels in the wider Athens area show a decrease of 9% compared to last year, while pre-bookings for the Saronic islands are down by 6%. Demand for hotels in the Peloponnese is also down by 15%.

At the same time, an almost double increase in advance bookings compared to last year is observed this year in Cyprus hotels (+87%), as a result, in part, of increased air connections to the destination but also of the hotels' ever-increasing investment in the internet and direct bookings.

Agios Nikolaos, Pelion, Rethymno, and Chania are the most dynamic destinations

At the level of individual destinations, Crete is in the top positions of the most dynamic increases in reservations for 2025. The “champions” are Agios Nikolaos of Crete, with an increase exceeding 100%, Rethymno (+45%), and Chania (+40%).

Strong increases are also noted in selected coastal or continental destinations of the country, with Pelion leading with (+73%) and Parga (+35%). Katerini follows with an increase of 24%, Porto Heli with +17%, and Arachova with +6%.

Islands such as Ios (+38%), Corfu (+27%), Naxos (+14%) and Rhodes (+9%) are moving upwards, while on the contrary, famous island destinations such as Mykonos, Santorini and Paros are showing a decrease of 23%, 27% and 11% respectively. Kefalonia and Zakynthos are also moving downwards according to the pre-bookings so far (-8% and -9% respectively).

Nelios CEO, Mr. Dimitris Serifis, commenting on the findings, stated: “The demand in terms of searches is increased compared to last year, but this is not reflected in the pre-bookings, which shows that this year will also have strong elements of last minute bookings, a picture that seems to be consolidated in the behavior of modern travelers.

At the same time, the rate of bookings through Online Travel Agencies is, in many cases, higher than direct bookings through official hotel websites, absorbing a larger share of the percentage of travelers who come to our country outside of a vacation package and constitute the majority of the incoming tourist flow. This fact can lead many hotel units to conditions of entrapment, something that hoteliers must manage strategically by paying greater attention to distribution and maintaining their flexibility.”

• Since 2008, Nelios has been providing digital marketing services to tourism businesses and strengthening their online footprint.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report