Building a strong tourism rebound in 2021, hoteliers in Greece are prepared to compete with other Mediterranean destinations for tourists as the world opens up more to international travel.
The prospects for Greece for 2022 look positive, even though its main rival, neighboring Turkey, is likely to increase its share of tourists and it is still unclear how Russia's invasion of Ukraine will impact European travel overall.
In 2021, Turkey’s national currency slumped against the euro, making trips to the country far more reasonably priced for European tourists.
Greece received 35.8 million passengers in 2021, 80.9% more than in 2020, according to Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority.
In comparison with 2019, visitors are still down 44.2%, but hoteliers are confident performance in 2022 could near pre-pandemic levels.
“[Last year] was an unexpectedly good year regarding reservations and revenue. For sure, it was a better year than 2020 and could somehow be compared to 2019,” said Maria Tsekoura, manager of marketing, at the Athens-based Andronis group of hotels.
She said continued lockdowns in other countries contributed to the situation.
Rising cases and uncertainty regarding COVID-19 in other Mediterranean destinations, specifically Spain and Turkey, led to tourists deciding to stay away in 2021. Meanwhile, Greece benefited from pent-up travel demand.
“The number of visitors increased quite a lot because people needed to travel,” said Nikos Voulgaridis, general manager of Kókkini Porta Rosa, on the island of Rhodes.
He said Greece gained a reputation as a relatively safe and inexpensive destination in the Mediterranean.
He added flexible cancellation policies were an additional factor attracting foreign tourists.
“Greece promoted itself as a safe destination in the Mediterranean, and very early COVID-19 measures were softened to allow visitors to enter the country,” said Panayiotis Dactilidis, hotel manager at Mykonos Grand Hotel & Resort on the Greek island of Mykonos.
First Mover
Dactilidis said early and thorough lockdown policies allowed Greece to emerge from the crisis much quicker than other destinations.
The country’s last lockdown lasted between mid-November 2020 and mid-May 2021, with all restaurants, bars, cinemas, theaters, schools and education facilities closed during the period.
This resulted in the late beginning of the travel season but helped to swiftly restore tourist flow during the summer and autumn months. In addition, Dactilidis said all businesses in Greece received some financial assistance from the government, including a partial compensation of labor costs and returning of taxes, which supports hoteliers.
In 2021, the average occupancy of Greek hotels was 33.5%, an increase of 69.2% from 2020, according to STR, CoStar’s hospitality analytics firm. In 2019, occupancy for the full year was 68.8%.
Average daily rate jumped by 36.1% in 2021 to €182.50 ($207.06), compared to €143.59 in 2019, and revenue per available room in 2021 was €61.19, an increase of 130.2% over 2020, but a noticeable decline from €98.76 in 2019.
Sotiria Argyropoulou, sales director at the Aristi Mountain Resort & Villas in Zagori, close to the border with Albania, said “the hospitality industry found its footing in 2021, but a full recovery is yet to come. Occupancy increased as 2021 rolled along, but the delayed return of travel continued to be a major issue.”
Bright Outlook
Hoteliers said performance metrics in 2022 will be better than they were in 2021, thanks to the continuing recovery of international travel in Europe and even an earlier beginning to the vacation season.
“Provided there will be no further surprises, we all believe that 2022 will be better, [but] most bookings will be last-minute ones,” said Voulgaridis, adding this year seasonal hoteliers expect to begin full-fledged operations in April, earlier than in 2020 and 2021.
Sources said the biggest problem could be organizing operations around those continued last-minute bookings.
Typically, seasonal Greek hotels start operating in March.
“We expect a rebound in 2022, mostly at the end of the second quarter. While international tourism bounces back, domestic tourism continues to drive the sector’s recovery. Domestic tourism and travel close to home, as well as open-air activities and nature-based products, are among the major travel trends that will continue shaping tourism in 2022,” Argyropoulou said.