The hotels of Thessaloniki are heading for a sell-out as there is a particularly high demand for room reservations during the two weekends of the 88th TIF, which will run from September 7 to 15, with Germany as the country of honour.

The rooms are filling up rapidly, as the secretary general of the Thessaloniki Hoteliers Association, Dimitris Simiacos, told the radio station of APE-MPE “Praetroio 104.9 Fm”, stressing that at the moment, occupancy rates of 80%-85% are recorded for the first weekend of the TIF, which is dominated by the visit and the speech of the Prime Minister.

“Bookings this year for the first weekend of the fair started very early, due to the fact that the country of honour is Germany. At the moment the occupancy is at 80% – 85% and the percentage will rise as the days get closer. The city is getting ready, September is the month of the TIF and it will definitely leave a good imprint on the economy of Thessaloniki,” Simiacos said.

Regarding the second weekend and the visit of the leader of the opposition to the pavilions of the TIF, the General Secretary of the Union of Hoteliers added that “traditionally it moves a little lower than the first, but it is a strong weekend and we will have good occupancy rates.”

Referring to the current summer season, Simiacos claimed that there has been “a fatigue” in the pace of hotel room bookings, stressing thatthis summer is “not reminiscent of last summer. There were losses in occupancy rates. The summer, so far, has been special, despite the fact that the omens for the first five months were highly positive.”.

Explaining the reasons for the reduced visitor numbers, he said Thessaloniki relies on road tourism from Balkan countries such as Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, visitors who this year chose not to stay overnight in the city. Instead, there were several arrivals from Turkey that “offset the losses from other markets,” according to Simiakos.

The General Secretary of the Thessaloniki Hoteliers Association expressed optimism that the coming months, until the close of 2024, will be much better due to the plans prepared by the municipality of Thessaloniki to attract tourists during the festive weekend of St. Demetrios and the city’s liberation in October, as well as for the Christmas period.