Currently, major foreign brands in the hospitality industry in Athens operate 18 hotels with a total of 3,087 rooms. These include Novotel and Sofitel, Carlson Rezidor (Radisson Blu), Intercontinental Hotels Group (Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental and Holiday Inn), among others, According to an analysis report by consultancy group GBR, the situation in the Athenian hotel market will undergo some changes with more investors entering the frame and old ones strengthening their positions,

“The arrival of Four Seasons at Astera Vouliagmeni, which will be launched in May, was announced in September, while the new owners of the former Athens Ledra on Syngrou Avenue, Hines and Henderson Park (under the management of the Yannis Daskalandonakis Group) are in talks with international brands, without any agreement with the Hyatt Group so far, which is indeed pursuing a presence in the Athenian hotel market”, the analysts said.

The report also makes reference to discussions regarding the new Athens Hilton manager, including the HILTON Group itself, the return of the Marriott brand to the 5-star Metropolitan of Syngrou Avenue and the possibility of Accor creating the first Ibis hotel, opposite from the Archaeological Museum.

In other developments, Lampsa hotel by the Laskaridis group prevailed in the in the tender for the former Agricultural Bank’s estate in Syntagma, while the successful conclusion of the tender for the reopening of the La Mirage Hotel in Omonia with the aim of the summer season of 2018 reached a successful conclusion, In addition, there was the exploitation of the Stars of Glyfada by the investment consortium of Grivalia Hospitality, the opening in 2019 of a new hotel in Shareholders’ Fund Army old structure at Syntagma Square across from the old parliament building by the Kokkalis Group, as well as the call to tender for the sale and restoration of the former 5-star “Iridanos” in Kerameikos.

Airport arrivals up

Meanwhile, arrivals in the Greek capital continue to rise as airport data revealed. Based on provisional figures for October, airport traffic reached 2.05 million passengers, an increase of 15.5% compared to last October. The increase is due to the rise of both domestic (+ 18.5%) and foreign (+ 14%) visitors.

Overall, in the period January-October 2017, the airport’s traffic reached 18.9 million passengers, marking an increase of 8.8%.