Greek tourism picks up in the first half of 2013, with international airport arrivals and revenues up by 10% (Q1 and Q2) and 15.5% (Jan-May) respectively, GTP website reports citing the latest survey conducted by GBR Consulting on the performance and outlook of the Greek hotel industry for the second quarter of 2013. According to the report, some four million tourists arrived at Greek airports in the second quarter of 2013, which is a 12.6% increase (442,000 tourists) than the same quarter last year. Athens and Thessaloniki also recovered from a bad start of the year, especially in the months May and June, while April was still negative. As a result, occupancy levels are overall higher at Greek hotels, with the exception of hotels in Thessaloniki which benefited in 2012 from hosting recovering Libyan rebel fighters.
(During the civil war in Libya, February-October 2011, Greek private hospitals and hotels organized a short duration hospitalization and hosting program for the injured.) In terms of room rates, resort hotels improved their performance, while hoteliers of Athens and especially Thessaloniki saw their rates declining. According to GBR Consulting, the above positive indicators are confirmed by positive official figures for the first months of 2013.
(source: ANSA)
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