Accor

Large multinational hotel chains are increasing their activity in Greece. The low penetration compared to the country's hotel potential, which is far below that of other tourism destinations such as Spain or Italy, combined with the excellent prospects of tourism, are motivating the largest groups.

There are strong growth prospects for tourism in Greece, with two new hotel openings already in the pipeline, Patrick Mendes, CEO of Accor for Europe and North Africa, tells Kathimerini.

Türkiye ranks fourth in Europe's hotel constructions in the pipeline with 117 projects/17,856 rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics' (LE) second quarter Europe Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report.

The Orient Express is leaving Istanbul on June 7, continuing its journey back to Paris with its next round of passengers.

The luxury train, which departed from Paris on June 1 and having passed through Zurich, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest and Varna, arrived in Istanbul on June 5 where it was greeted by a Mehteran (Ottoman band) group at Sirkeci station.

I want to start with two revealing, and I would say disturbing - in their combination - set of numbers. The only income that the Municipality of Athens had from tourist activity in 2023 - by all accounts one of the best years for tourism - was just 2,714,664 euros.

The turnover generated by the accommodation of guests in short-term rental accommodation has increased significantly compared to previous years and is now approaching 30% of the turnover made by hotel units.

Small, renovated and special accommodation complexes, also known as boutique hotels, are performing even better than large luxury hotels in terms of the growth rate of their occupancy.

Türkiye's hotel industry continues to grow with new players joining the market, the Hotel Association of Türkiye (TÜROB) has said in a recent report.

The number of chain and group hotels in the country increased from 57 in 2019 to 67 last year, including 46 local and 21 international chains, showed the report.

Three in four Greek hotels belong in lower categories of one to three stars, representing 50% of the country's total capacity in terms of rooms, according to data from the Institute of Tourism Research and Forecasts (ITEP) of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels. 

Revenues from the accommodation tax imposed on hotels, rooms for rent and short-term rentals are increasing, according to the 2024 budget.