An agreement signed by the Athens Hoteliers Association and the Athens
Room rates, according to the agreement, will be based on 2001-2002 rates plus inflation recorded in the following year (2003) less 13%. Athens hoteliers will get a $50 down payment for each of the 25,000 rooms booked by the committee, and the remainder comes in scheduled installments up until 2004.
Now that an agreement between the committee and the hotel association has been completed, the committee must sign a separate agreement with each hotel that has accepted a booking.
Rates for the remaining arrivals expected during the Games will most likely be much more expensive as they…
An agreement signed by the Athens Hoteliers Association and the Athens
Room rates, according to the agreement, will be based on 2001-2002 rates plus inflation recorded in the following year (2003) less 13%. Athens hoteliers will get a $50 down payment for each of the 25,000 rooms booked by the committee, and the remainder comes in scheduled installments up until 2004.
Now that an agreement between the committee and the hotel association has been completed, the committee must sign a separate agreement with each hotel that has accepted a booking.
Rates for the remaining arrivals expected during the Games will most likely be much more expensive as they’ll be based on demand.
A study released by the Greek Hotel Chamber’s Tourism Research Institute says the Athens 2004 Olympic Games will bring a barrage of new visitors to Greece and that the hotel industry is ready for them.
On average, the study says, Athens hosts 24,000 visitors daily but that during the Games the capital will welcome some 147,000 visitors daily.
At the very least, it projects 50,000 spectators and 60,000 tourists. On the whole, the study foresees the addition of some 6 million Games-curious arrivals during the period 1998-2011, or an average of 440,000 such visitors annually during the period.
To accommodate this increase in arrivals, the study’s author, Dr. Grigoris Papanikos, says available beds in the Attica region must increase to 85,000 by 2004 from the 70,000 registered in 1997, and to 100,000 beds by 2011. It stresses, however, that additional beds need not be within hotel units but could be in auxiliary lodging units.
He also reminds that of the additional 147,000 arrivals expected during the Games, some 15,000 will be housed at the Olympic Village.
That leaves a need for 128,500 beds, and according to the study the Attica region will boast 85,000 beds by 2004 (new airport hotel and the re-opening of some units now closed). Another 39,000 visitors can be accommodated in units in the regions surrounding Attica and another 26,000 can be put up in private homes, apartments or rented rooms.
Greece’s cruise industry says it can host an additional 5,000 visitors and its yachting industry even more.
In all, the study says today’s bed capacity, and the few new units already planned, is sufficient to cover the country’s accommodation needs provided each and every available unit is managed efficiently.
It says accommodations for the increase in the number of visitors can be easily covered with the natural increase in available beds, and that no additional hotel construction is required. It does say, however, that present units in the Attica region do need modernization works.
The study believes that during the 17 days of the Games, the Attica area will host 1.9 million overnights. It says with all the auxiliary units available, there’s room for almost another one million overnights.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
