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.

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.

The 36-page 2005 Greek Hotel Branding Report includes the 71 brands that are present in Greece. These brands are grouped into four categories, i.e. international brands, national brands, local brands and Cypriot brands.

Several tables contain all 296 hotels with a brand affiliation and their room capacities as well as the 84 hotels that are members of hotel consortia. The Appendix also comprises the websites of all 71 hotel brands.

For additional information regarding the full report, please contact the author directly at: d.koutoulas@ba.aegean.gr . 

Branded Hotels in Greece

^* without double-counting the hotels featuring two brands (13 hotels with 3,416 rooms)

Source: The 2005 Greek Hotel Branding Report by Dimitris Koutoulas