Kastoria, Ioannina, Zagori «broke» the sun-sea model

Ioannina, Kastoria, and Zagorochoria have broken the “sun-sea” model and left behind a summer of high occupancy rates, having managed to attract tourists during the summer season. As destinations, they are not typically summer destinations, but this year they saw an increase in visitors and full accommodations.

However, although summer is ending on a positive note, hoteliers with businesses that operate year-round are deeply concerned about the coming winter.

This year, Kastoria entered the summer tourist market even more dynamically with an inventive commercial that encouraged people to visit. It was aired in the middle of the season, but according to the treasurer of the Kastoria Hoteliers Association, Ilias Anastasiou, it was aimed primarily at the Greek market, and the results seem to show that it paid off.

«Due to the economic crisis, we have turned to foreign markets over the last ten years. This year, there was concern about the gap that would be left by the Russian and Ukrainian markets. Don't forget that we also have fur products here, which make the destination even more attractive to these tourists, who accounted for approximately 25% of incoming tourism in 2019,» Mr. Anastasiou points out. However, as he notes, this gap was filled by Israel, Poland, Switzerland, and Romania, and the summer seems to be closing with numbers that were usually only seen during the winter season.

«After the commercial, which I believe gave a big boost to the movement, August saw occupancy rates reaching 100% on weekends, and the figures for September are also very encouraging,» Mr. Anastasiou points out. In fact, as he reports, tourist traffic for June this year exceeded 2019 figures by 11%, and July exceeded 2019 figures by 21.2%.

«In Kastoria, we have 25 hotels that belong to the association, most of which are large hotels, and what concerns us now is the winter and how we will cope with the high energy costs. From October onwards, we rely mainly on domestic tourism and we hope that the vouchers will help,» says Mr. Anastasiou.

Despite the fact that Ioannina has traditionally recorded good tourist seasons in spring and autumn, this summer proved to be just as “strong” as previous ones, said Spyros Sourelis, Vice President of the Hoteliers Association, referring to the summers of 2019 and 2021.

«In Ioannina, there are around 70 hotels, and we have a lot of passing-through tourism, as well as visitors from the Balkans and Israel. On average, occupancy rates reached 70% not only in the city of Ioannina but also in the wider mountainous region,» he notes. «We are doing well and hope that this will continue in the future,» he adds.

In Zagorochoria, which has about 100 accommodations, occupancy rates from mid-July onwards were extremely high, according to Elsa Exarchou, tourism consultant for the Region of Epirus and hotelier. «Zagori did extremely well again this summer, with Israel being a significant market, and according to the data so far, it looks like we will continue to do well until November,» she adds.

According to Mr. Sourelis, what worries hoteliers is the increase in energy costs and products, which have not been passed on to consumers, something which, he says, will be reflected in revenues.

Concerns for businesses in winter destinations

«It is true that this summer saw increased tourist traffic and high occupancy rates almost throughout Greece, even in less popular destinations. However, I insist on pointing out that we are still talking about a transitional year, as increases in product prices, especially energy costs, and staff shortages are affecting a large number of businesses,» notes Grigoris Tasios, president of the Panhellenic Hoteliers Federation (POX). «The intense seasonality throughout the tourism model is the biggest problem facing the sector in the country,» he adds.

There is particular concern for the 1,226 hotels in the mountainous regions, as reported by the president of POX, and for this reason, the sector is requesting, among other things, employment subsidies, heating subsidies, and immediate inclusion in the Exoikonomo II program, so that hotels in winter destinations can survive.

Nicole Kazantzidou