Hotel prices skyrocketed in the summer

By Vickys Kourlibini

Hotel prices went up in the first two months of the summer, according to data from the Institute of Tourism Research and Forecasts of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels.

In particular, in July the average price of a double room reached 131 euros, while the average occupancy across the country was at 81%. Correspondingly, in June, the average price of a double room in the hotels was 108 euros and the average occupancy in the open units at 71%.

The difference compared to the first months of this year’s tourist season is more than obvious. ITEP’s data for recording the basic parameters of average price and occupancy of Greek hotels showed that in May the percentage of open hotels was 88%, the average occupancy in open hotels 49.1%, the average occupancy reduced to all hotels 40.8% and the average price of a double room at 82 euros.

Hoteliers are trying, due to the increased demand from both foreign tourists and domestic tourism, to cover the losses of the pandemic, while the rise in energy costs, as they say, has pushed up the prices of accommodation.

In particular, based on research findings of the XEE, in 2021 96% of Greek hotels were open, with an average occupancy of 68% and an average double room price of 68 euros. Three out of four hotels opened between May and July, while their total turnover amounted to 5.48 billion euros, i.e. 35% lower than the corresponding turnover of 2019.

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The Association of Hoteliers of Attica has however reported that there is no “overbooking”, underlining that, the first half, closed with a decrease of 21.7% in occupancy and 15.5% in revenue per available room (RevPar), but with positive average room rate by 7.9%. The five months of 2022 closed for hotels with a 26.8% drop in occupancy, a 25.8% drop in revenue per available room and only the average room rate showed a small positive change (by 1.4%) compared to the corresponding five months 2019.

Correspondingly, the Thessaloniki Hotel Association asserted that, in the first half of 2022 and compared to the corresponding period of 2019, a 25% decrease is observed, with 273,383 fewer overnight stays.

The performance of July and August is expected, however it is noted that traditionally during the autumn months more traffic is recorded in city destinations.