A new profile of Athens has arisen, after the pandemic, in favor of its tourism, as a result of the differentiated demands and needs of modern international travelers, supplying Athenian hotels with guests during the difficult winter months.
Visitors to Athens are expected to exceed 7.5 million. of 2023 and the outlook for 2025 is very positive. Google searches for accommodation in Athens in the new year from Israel and Britain have already doubled, while interest from France and America is also on the rise, with increases of 2-3% and 50% respectively.
At the same time, the opening of the Chinese market is expected in the next period, while Athens can also expect fruits from the “opening” sought by the Ministry of Tourism with a mission in February to the Indian market.
In a European context, Athens is not yet able to compete with traditional markets during the Christmas-New Year festive period, although demand seems to be moving positively. “We are at a better level, our goal is to reach the European average in prices, we are rising but we still have a way to stabilize”, emphasized the new president of The Hotel Sector in Athens, Attica, and the Argosaronic Gulf, Evgenios Vassilikos, in an introductory meeting with journalists.
The new travel mentality that “raises” Athens in winter
Part of the visitors to the Greek capital now tend to prefer getaways in Athens in the low season, too. Since the COVID era, it seems that Athens is also “rising” in the “low months” thanks to a new mentality that has been formed around travel, attracting visitors interested in shopping, nightlife, and Greek cuisine, such as points out the Managing Director of the Pan Hotel in Mitropoleos and 2nd Vice President of The Hotel Sector in Athens, Attica, and the Argosaronic Gulf, Ms. Ismini Panagiotopoulou. Cypriots, Greeks from all over Greece and the islands, Italians, and French seem to be looking for value for money in smaller category hotels for their stay in Athens in the winter, but they do not “sting” on expenses such as e.g. Greek food.
November 2024 was better than 2023, Mr. Vasilikos, with the tendency of recent years to “raise” the weekends during the period from November to February. During these months, convention tourism would help a lot, he added.
The lack of infrastructure in the city over time, in 2035 and 2036, stressed the president of the Hotel Association of Athens – Attica & Argosaronicou, is a key issue for its tourism and we hope to be able to have a strategy in this area that will be much longer than today.
But even without the largesse of convention tourism, the main demand for which is the construction of a large convention center in the capital over time, Athenian tourism seems to develop its pace in winter thanks to the tendency of travelers of all incomes to make more trips within the time, to seek greater comforts and pleasures in their escapes, to pursue life experiences. This year Athens hoteliers saw more visitors to Athens throughout the year in this exact pattern.
After all, after the pandemic, the tourist map of the capital has changed, with a greater diffusion of hotels both in the center and on the Athenian Riviera, enriching the accommodation options and dispersing the visitors in November, December, even in January and February, and both the change in travelers’ preferences and the gradual return of business trips contribute to this, emphasizes the general manager of Athens Capital Hotel – MGallery Collection and member of the Board of Directors of Hotel Association of Athens – Attica & Argosaronicou, Euripides Tzikas.
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