Athens: Hotels reached 63.5% occupancy in the first quarter of 2024 – 5.9% increase, what hoteliers say

With an average occupancy of 63.5%, the first quarter of 2024 closed for the hotels of Athens, registering an increase of 5.9% compared to 2023, the Association of Hoteliers of Athens, Attica and Argosaronicos emphasizes in its announcement.

At the same time, the average room rate (ADR) for the first quarter remained roughly at the same levels as last year, increasing by 3.9%, as it did not exceed 98.47 euros, compared to 94.75 euros in the first quarter of 2023, while revenue per available room (RevPar) increased by 10%, reaching 62.48 euros, compared to 56.79 euros in the first quarter of 2023.

At the same time, March 2024 in terms of average occupancy did not differ much from March 2023, EXAAA emphasizes in its announcement.

Specifically, the increase in average occupancy recorded compared to March 2023 was 1.5%, that is, it reached 71.5%, compared to 70.4% last March, as explained by the association.

Meanwhile, the average room rate for March 2024 increased by 7.4%, reaching €107.86 in March 2024, from €100.43 in March 2023, while the Revenue Per Available Room (RevPar ) in March 2024 saw an increase of 9%, reaching 77.08 euros in March 2024, compared to 70.72 euros in March 2023.

Athens: A total of 18,198 rooms in the hotels located within the municipality

In its announcement, EXAAA also focuses on some additional data related to bed capacity and the performance of Athenian hotels.

Specifically, they say the following:

“The hotel beds that pertain exclusively to the Municipality of Athens, i.e. are located within its boundaries, are absolutely specific and counted: Until 14.04.2024 they related to 295 hotel units, corresponding to 18,198 rooms and 34,790 hotel beds”.

Therefore, as the hoteliers say, “it cannot be true that the population of Athens increases tenfold every day because of the tourists who are a burden on our city and the Municipality of Athens. In the event that we had the maximum average hotel occupancy (i.e. 100% occupancy, in all the hotels of the Municipality of Athens), the city would be “burdened” with their accommodation daily by around 35,000 visitors (only 5.44% of the population of Athens, based on the 2021 census)”, the hoteliers state in the announcement.

Regarding the reports made on revenues from the hotels concerning past decades, EXAAA notes the following:

“In the period 2007-2013, only in the center of Athens, 31 hotels (2,621 beds) were “closed”, out of a total of 83 hotels that were “closed” throughout Attica. From 2013 to today, the hotel units that operate, “changed hands”, reappeared or appeared for the first time in the center of Athens, did not increase the number of hotels so much: From the 227 hotels of all categories of the Municipality of Athens in 2013, we reached 2024 to 295, and the 27,569 hotel beds in 2013 increased to 34,790 in 2024, which corresponds to 68 units – of an average of 106 beds and 50 rooms in the center of Athens.

The number of new hotel beds in this period, of 11 years, cannot even be compared with the multiple beds acquired by e.g. Barcelona in the corresponding period, or with the leapfrogging and anarchic growth of short-term rental beds in Athens, which reach 56,000 – according to data from Lighthouse (ex-Transparent).

So how much more do hotels and hotel tenants burden the environment and the cleanliness of our city? And to what extent are the “so many hotels” that appear on our street really hotels? Is it time to look elsewhere for the beds and the causes and the extra taxes and fees of all kinds?”, ask the members of the association.

And the revenues of the hotels not only in Athens but in the whole of Attica do not exceed 2.5 billion euros annually. These are revenues recorded throughout the territory of Attica, in which, according to the most recent (14.4.2024) XEE/ITEP capacity data, 701 hotels are active, corresponding to 34,808 rooms and 67,350 hotel beds of all categories.

Out of this total, the 406 units, which correspond to 16,609 rooms and 32,559 hotel beds, are scattered in all the Municipalities of Attica and of these 7,939 beds belong to the 4,087 rooms of the 190 hotels of the Argosaronic islands.

As the members of the association of hoteliers say: We completely understand the desire, the need and the effort of both the Municipality of Athens, as well as the state in general, to improve their income from Tourism. But will this only be done “collectively”? Constantly increasing taxes, municipal fees and charges of all kinds – especially and only hotels? Hotels pay daily increased investment and operating costs and of course they also deposit municipal fees in the destinations, as well as municipal tax through electricity bills / based on the declared square footage etc., which we have already mentioned.

“At EXAAA, we believe that revenues from Tourism – something common to all of us – increase only by following a long-term and targeted strategy of further development (not only numerical but mainly qualitative) and by adopting a healthy framework of coexistence and fair participation of all businesses , and of all Tourism professionals not only in taxes and fees but also in the decisions for the future of the destination, without watertightness, and with a “compass” objective data and scientific research” concludes the EXAAA announcement.