Tourists keep on coming to Athens, but a lot of them stay in the 8,000 houses that are rented privately in the Greek capital.
Consequently, Athenian hotels fail to reap the benefits from the rise of arrivals, recorded at the Athens International Airport. According to the Athens-Attica and Argosaronic Hotel Association, they suffered the effects of falling demand during the September-November period despite a increase in visitors to the Greek capital.
Twenty points lag
The association’s president Alexandros Vassilikos said at a press conference on Tuesday that the impressive 23 percent increase in foreign tourist arrivals to Athens does not reflect on the occupancy of hotels in the Attica area.
The average occupancy rate in Athens during the first 11 months of 2015 did not exceed 3.7 percent and dropped by 3.8 percent in September, by 6.1 percent in October and by 4.6 percent in November.
Illegal operation
Mr Vassilikos naturally asked “where are all these visitors to Athens staying” and pointed towards the thousands of properties that are currently operating illegally as accommodation units in the Greek capital.
He underlined that over 8,000 properties are currently operating illegally in Athens and called on the government to protect the hotel enterprises that operate within the law.
Lowest average room rate
As the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels reported earlier, hosting of tourists in illegal accommodation causes legitimate hotels to lose 12 million overnight stays, which translates to over 500 million euros of less revenue.
Mr Vassilikos noted that Athens still has the lowest average room rate (90 euros) compared to other European countries and added that strategic choices must be made for Athens as a destination to increase visitor numbers.
These choices include upgrading existing hotels, promoting the ?ttica Riviera and establishing a metropolitan conference center within the city.
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