The increase in demand for tourist real estate in Greece - a decline in hotel transactions in Europe.

Tourism continues to be the driving force of the Greek economy, as over the past four years, transactions in tourist real estate have exceeded 5 billion euros, with demand mainly from abroad focusing on popular destinations in the country, such as the Cyclades. While in the rest of Europe, tourist real estate serves as a stimulating "drug" for the real estate market, which has been severely affected in other sectors, this year has seen a 19% decrease in hotel transactions.

The rapid development of the Greek tourism sector, the increase in both international and local demand, as well as the country's growing position in international tourism rankings, have led to significant investments in the broad hospitality sector from both foreign and local capital. Over the past decade, total investments in the hotel industry have increased dramatically, from around 200-250 million euros annually in 2013-2014 to a peak of 1.9 billion euros in 2019.

Although there is insufficient data to assess the levels of 2020 due to the serious impact of the pandemic, the industry attracted around 1.5 billion euros in investments in 2021, which led to a further increase of 10% in 2022, continuing into 2023.

These deals involve hotels and luxury resorts, operational or abandoned properties, or old buildings suitable for conversion into hotels, as well as real estate sold at auction.

According to the HVS European Hotel Transaction report, high inflation and rising interest rates have significantly impacted the hotel real estate investment market, slowing down deal activity and reducing volumes by 19% compared to 2022.

According to the annual European Hotel Transaction Report, non-fund organizations were the most active investors in Europe in 2023, buying and selling hotel properties worth nearly 6 billion euros. However, this is a 28% decrease compared to last year.