Hotel turnover up 23% in 2023
The increase in arrivals and the growth in room rates contributed to a major expansion
The turnover of Greek hotels in 2023 saw a large increase compared to previous years, going hand in hand with the increase in tourism and inflation.
At the same time, a large number of overnight stays for this year have already been booked, at an average price increase of 7.9%. The percentage of foreigners in the total number of customers of seasonal (summer) operating hotels is high and amounts to 80.5%.
However, the increase was not uniform, as the biggest increases were achieved by four- and five-star hotels that operate mainly seasonally, while the lowest category hotels and hotels with continuous operation had more limited growth.
The turnover of hotels last year increased by 23% compared to 2022 and reached 10.5 billion euros. This increase varies significantly between hotels with continuous (+9.4%) and seasonal (+27.4%) operation. One-, two- and three-star hotels, which make up 74% of the number of hotels, recorded an 18.8% increase in turnover in 2023 compared to 2022. Four- and five-star hotels posted an increase of 23.6%. These figures were made public by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels and they result from a questionnaire to the businesses carried out as part of the relevant regular annual survey.
The amount of €10.5 billion corresponds to approximately 50% of the estimated travel receipts for 2023, resulting from the latest data of the Bank of Greece.
Based on the same survey, four- and five-star hotels also recorded the highest occupancies in June-September. Notably the average occupancy in August was at the same level as in 2022, marking a marginal increase compared to 2019.
The increase in turnover also stems from the increase in room rates. According to the chamber, the average price of a double room last August showed a 9% rise from August 2022 and 31% compared to 2019. For the months of May and October there was an increase of approximately 11% between years 2023 and 2022. Along with the rise in turnover, hotel employment grew 12.6% compared to 2022, to 208,445 employees.
