Hoteliers blame gov’t for low profitability
Athens hotel occupancy rates last year remained at 2004 levels but the average price per room fell more than 15 percent, the Attica Hoteliers’ Union (EXA) said. The average occupancy rate in the January-November period was 64.1 percent. Occupancy rates were up in all star categories except three-star hotels, where it fell 10.4 percent. EXA complained that Athenian hotels are facing a serious problem as regards the average room rate and average return to the hotelier per room. It also said that the significant improvements in infrastructure that the tourism industry expected after the Olympics have still not happened. These include a big conference center, for which the Olympic tae kwon do venue had been designated and about which nothing has yet been done. Moreover, measures toward bolstering the number of visits by cruise ships have bogged in red tape and the lack of any comprehensive policy. «Attica’s refurbished and modernized hotels effectively end up subsidizing with their low prices the lack of self-evident and necessary infrastructure and activities that ought to be offered to visitors, in an extremely competitive international environment where all countries and cities are potential destinations,» said EXA.
