Local hotel rates keep growing
The occupancy rate of the capital’s organized accommodation reaches satisfactory levels
The average price of Greek hotels posted a fresh13.7% annual increase in July, reaching 174 euros from €153 in the same month last year. At the same time, occupancy increased marginally to 82.8%, a level considered as very healthy.
Although rising operating costs for hotels are seen squeezing their profit margins, the overall picture points to a better year for businesses in the sector. Of course, the picture varies from region to region and by hotel category, but also within the same hotel category depending on the popularity of each one. In any case, the increase in the average rate of hotel rooms is significantly higher than inflation, tourism industry sources note. The data comes from the Institute of Tourism Research and Forecasting (ITEP) of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.
For the capital, based on the data released on Wednesday by the Athens, Attica and Argo-Saronic Hotel Association (EXAAA) for July, the average price of hotels and the average revenue per available room moved to better levels. More specifically: This year’s July ended with the hotels of Athens registering an average occupancy of 87.2%, albeit lower than that of June which was 91.7%.
Mainly Athens’ 3-star hotels (84.1%), followed by 4-star (76.6%) and 5-star (72.4%), continue to show the best average occupancy in the year’s first seven months: The average daily rate reached €149.09 (9.9% increase compared to 2023) and the seven-month 2024 average revenue per available room reached €115.07 compared to €102.07 in January-July 2023 (an increase of 12.7%). The average daily rate for July this year was €179.84 (an increase of 8.3% compared to last July) and the average revenue per available room in July 2024 was €156.83 (an increase of 6.3% against the corresponding July 2023 average revenue per available room).
With these data, the country’s capital surpassed Madrid this year in terms of occupancy. In particular, the average occupancy rate of Athens hotels (77.2%) exceeds that of Madrid (76%). Barcelona (78.6%) and London (79.1%) recorded the best average occupancy.
