Tourism: Greece is a magnet luxury destination

The demand for luxury vacations in Greece remains strong in 2024, as well, however, Greek tourism is at risk of running out of staff to serve the millions of new visitors.

“I don’t see a decrease in luxury for 2024. We have already pre-sold 20% for 2024,” noted the managing director and Co-Managing Partner of the Sani/Ikos group, Dr. Andreas Andreadis, on the occasion of an educational initiative of the Group in collaboration with the educational group Mitropolitiko – AKMI for the training of hotel industry staff.

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Without staff there are no tourism services. The lack of personnel is a big problem and finding workers is a complicated issue, especially for Greece, said Mr. Andreadis. As he explained, other countries such as Spain and Portugal, which also face the problem of staff shortages, have, due to historical contributions and international agreements, the possibility of attracting staff from the Spanish-speaking countries of Central and South America, and Portugal from Brazil. Greece, due to its language and its position at the end of Europe, needs a very specific plan to cover the gap while he hastened to add that the lack of human resources not only in tourism but also in other sectors such as e.g. in construction, is not only a Greek but a pan-European problem. He hinted that the state must act immediately otherwise the human resource deficit will become the “black hole” that will swallow any development.

Regarding the demand for tourist services in Greece, Mr. Andreadis estimated that 2023 will close with a record in both arrivals and revenues, which will range over 20 billion. euros, but not more than 21 billion euros.

He characterized 2023 as a very good year for Greek tourism, adding that luxury tourism will be what makes a difference in 2024 thanks to the momentum it appears to have.

Other representatives of luxury units that are already investing in Greece also agree with this assessment, as can be seen from the new chains that are coming (Mandarin Oriental, Six Senses, etc.).

According to Mr. Andreadis, after a successful year for the group in 2023, the trend for booking luxury hotel accommodation remains strong in 2024 as well. The Sani/Ikos group has already covered 20% of its bookings from the international market for 2024 with prices increased by 8 to 10%. It should be noted that again this year there were increases of an average of 10% in prices, while the rate of increase in the operating costs of the hotel units was similar.

Referring to the financial results of Greek hotels for 2023, he estimated that most of them will be higher in 2023 compared to previous years.

The factor that ultimately determines the financial results of tourism businesses, he explained, is not the prices per se, but the discounts that hoteliers provide in order to maintain high levels of occupancy in their accommodations. As he pointed out, this year, in general, fewer discounts were given compared to other years.

In particular, discounts in the Sani/Ikos group in 2023 were below 7% compared to around 13% in previous years, with a target of 95% occupancy.

New investment plans

Regarding the next investment steps of the group, Mr. Andreadis was modest, however, he said that two more new projects are being considered, one in Greece and one abroad, the details of which are expected to be announced soon. At the same time, the new investments already announced in Crete (Kissamos) and Portugal (Algarve) are running, which are planned to operate in 2025 and 2027 respectively.