The next day of Greek Tourism

68%

of foreign tourist arrivals originates from EU countries
50%

of all hotels are Stars and less than 25% are Zombies
€6.2bn investment

needs for a 5 year period for construction of beds, capacity upgrades and heavy maintenance
18

reported hotel transactions in main destinations in 2017 and 2018 worth € 310mn

Tourism is and will remain, a big economic force in Greece. Arrivals are increasing, the length of stay is not declining fast, average daily spending is constant, the number of significant tourist origins is going up. On the other hand, arrivals remain peaky, daily spending is modest by international standards and the same legacy destinations attract most of the demand.
Destination appears to be the prime determinant of a hotel’s financial performance, with size and rating following. Hotels in Crete, South Aegean and the Ionian Islands are the most competitive.

There are about 400 hotels which require financial restructuring of around € 2.1bn before attracting any new investment.

There are three value creation business strategies, applicable in the hotel industry

Develop lesser destinations, mainly targeting 5* Star hotels at Thessaly, Western Greece and North Aegean
Add capacity at main destinations focusing on Star hotels, with 3* hotels being a solid target
Upgrade Star and Grey hotels to the next class and especially 4* to 5*

The most promising investment strategy, in terms of value potential, appears to be the development of lesser destinations, followed by upgrading 4* to 5* hotels, and adding capacity to existing 3* hotels.