The latest data on hotel performance in Athens for June 2025 is causing concern among the city’s hoteliers, according to the Athens, Attica & Argosaronic Hotel Association. Despite June traditionally being one of the strongest months of the tourist season for Athens, all three key performance indicators—average occupancy, average daily rate (ADR), and revenue per available room (RevPar)—recorded declines.
Specifically, the average occupancy rate for Athens hotels in June was 88.9%, compared to 90.6% in June 2024, marking a 2% drop. The average room rate decreased by 3.7%, to €228.50 from €237.18 last year, while RevPar fell by 5.5%, to €203.04 from €214.95.
Positive Six-Month Balance Thanks to Strong First Quarter
Despite the disappointing June figures, the overall picture for the first half of 2025 is more balanced, mainly due to the strong performance of city hotels in the first quarter of the year. Specifically, the average occupancy rate in Athens hotels stood at 74.5%, up 1.3% compared to the first half of 2024. Similarly, the average room rate increased by 1.9% to €169.96, and RevPar rose by 3.2% year-on-year to €126.54.
This modest improvement is mainly attributed to the robust performance during the first quarter, which saw double-digit percentage increases, in contrast to May and especially June, where performance trended downward.
Athens Lagging Behind Other Major European Cities
Compared to other European destinations, Athens appears to be losing ground—particularly in relation to traditional competitors such as Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome. Although Athens’ average occupancy rate (74.5%) for the half-year surpassed Istanbul’s, it still lags behind that of Rome, Barcelona, and Madrid—even in cases where those cities also showed signs of decline.
Regarding ADR, Athens recorded a 1.9% increase, but this fell short compared to Madrid (+6.6%), Barcelona (+3.1%), and Rome (+3.5%). Only Istanbul posted a decline (-1.5%).
The same trend was observed in RevPar: Athens reported a 3.2% increase, but still trailed behind Madrid (+6.8%), Rome (+3.1%), and Barcelona (+1.6%), while outperforming Istanbul, which saw a decrease of -1.4%.
Factors Behind the Lag
The Hotel Association attributes June’s performance decline to a combination of external and internal factors that continue to impact tourism flows to Athens. These include geopolitical developments that have created a global climate of uncertainty, as well as specific issues in major inbound tourism markets such as the U.S. and Israel, which faced difficulties during this period.
At the same time, an oversupply of accommodation in Athens—from both hotels and short-term rentals—has intensified competition, putting pressure on prices and hotel revenues, especially during peak months.
Focus on the Coastal Front
Amid this cautious optimism, the Hotel Association emphasizes the importance of the redevelopment projects and ongoing investments along Athens’ coastal front, which are seen as pivotal for the city’s tourism upgrade. The expansion of the capital’s tourism offering toward the sea is creating new opportunities and giving Athens a fresh, modern identity that can attract higher-quality and greater volumes of tourism.
The tourism community of Athens is now looking to capitalize on these investments and transformative projects as a key requirement for boosting the city’s competitiveness and extending the tourism season, with the goal of restoring and further strengthening Athens’ position on the European tourism map.
