Greek Hotels Among the Least Developed in Regard to Branding; Only 3.4% of the Country�s Hotels Have an Affiliation with a Greek or an International Brand / November 2005

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Greek Hotels Among the Least Developed in Regard to Branding; Only 3.4% of the
Country�s Hotels Have an Affiliation with a Greek or an International Brand

December 1, 2005 - The first study exploring the extent of branding among Greek hotels has recently been published by Dr. Dimitris Koutoulas, an Athens-based tourism consultant and lecturer at the Greek Open University. The 2005 Greek Hotel Branding Report presents all 71 hotel brands that have built a presence in the country�s hospitality industry.

"Greece boasts one of the world�s largest and most mature hotel sectors with nearly 9,000 businesses and a 342,000-room capacity, yet it is among the least developed in regard to branding," Dr. Koutoulas said. "Only 3.4% of the country�s hotels (controlling 16.8% of the total room capacity) have an affiliation either with a Greek or an international brand, a situation that reflects the orientation of most accommodation businesses towards the package tour market and their close co-operation with tour operators."

Grecotel, Best Western, Cyprus-based Louis, Mitsis and Iberostar are the only companies active in Greece that have built significant portfolios of branded hotels with 31, 22, 16, 13 and 11 units, respectively. Grecotel, the country�s largest hotel operator, controls 6,626 rooms or 1.9% of the total room capacity available at Greek hotels.
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Branded Hotels in Greece

	No. of hotels	Share of the country's hotels	Total room capacity	Share of the country's total room capacity	Average no. of rooms per hotel
International Hotel Brands	95	1.1%	19,116	5.6%	201
National Hotel Brands	110	1.3%	23,201	6.8%	211
Local Hotel Brands	80	0.9%	12,946	3.8%	162
Cypriot Hotel Brands	24	0.3%	5,474	1.6%	228
All Branded Hotels of Greece*	296	3.4%	57,321	16.8%	194
All Greek Hotels	8,697	100%	34, 654	100%	39

* without double-counting the hotels featuring two brands (13 hotels with 3,416 rooms)
Source: The 2005 Greek Hotel Branding Report by Dimitris Koutoulas
. Global brands, such as IHG�s InterContinental and Holiday Inn, Accor�s Club Med, Sofitel and Novotel, Hilton, Starwood�s Luxury Collection as well as Marriott and Hyatt, have established a limited presence, with each one of these brands having up to four hotels in Greece. A comparatively large share has been secured by hotel brands directly managed or affiliated with the major European tour operators such as the predominantly all-inclusive resort hotels of Robinson Club, Magic Life, Club alltoura, Calimera, LTI and Iberostar, the latter operating 11 Greek hotels with 2,590 rooms.

Regarding Greek brands, second to Grecotel is Mitsis with a capacity of 3,546 rooms in 13 hotels. Other national brands include Aldemar, Helios, Divanis, Capsis, Electra, Amalia, Chandris and AKS. There are also several strong local brands in the country�s main resort areas, such as Maris on Crete, Esperia on Rhodes and Kipriotis on Kos.

A growing number of Greek hotels are opting for consortium membership, with 84 hotels having joined international networks such as the Leading Hotels of the World, Great Hotels Organisation and Small Luxury Hotels.

Contact:

Dr. Dimitris Koutoulas
Tourism and Marketing Consultant
Athens, Greece
Tel.: (+30) 693 6208689 Fax (+30) 210 9967154
[email protected]

Also See:	Panos Panayotopoulos Appointed General Manager of Athenaeum InterContinental, Athens / December 2004
	Market Metrix Examines How Countries, Hotel Brands, and Guests Differ Across the Global Hotel Industry / November 2005

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