Occupancy rate grows at Athens hotels

By Stathis Kousounis

Athens hotels enjoyed the highest increase on a European level in terms of their average occupancy rate in April, as the latest STR Global report on the continent’s hotels showed that the Greek capital’s rate grew 17.3 percentage points, reaching 64.9 percent.

Notably, Greek Easter was in April this year, while in 2013 it has been in May.

The biggest decline on an annual basis was for Istanbul hotels, which slid 12.2 percentage points.

Hotels in Greece also showed the second-biggest year-on-year increase – 23.7 percent – for average revenue per available room, which reached 59.5 euros. However, despite the significant growth on both counts, Athens hotels still lag the European average rates of 68.3 percent in occupancy and 69.70 euros of revenues per room.

Foreign tourism arrivals posted an impressive 26.1 percent increase in March, reaching 457,000, according to Bank of Greece figures.