The demand for tourist real estate in Greece is growing due to a decline in hotel bookings in Europe.

Tourism remains a driving force of the Greek economy, as over the past four years, transactions involving tourist real estate have exceeded 5 billion euros, with demand mainly focused on the country's popular tourist destinations, such as the Cyclades. While in the rest of Europe, tourist real estate is a stimulating factor for the real estate market, which has significantly suffered in other sectors, this year has seen a 19% decrease in hotel transactions.

The rapid growth of the Greek tourism sector, the increase in both international and domestic demand, as well as the strengthening of the country's position on the list of global tourist destinations, have led to significant investments in the broad hospitality sector, both from foreign and domestic capital. Over the past decade, total investments in the hotel sector have exponentially increased 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 in 2020 due to the serious impact of the pandemic, the sector attracted approximately 1.5 billion euros in investments in 2021, which led to a further increase of 10% in 2022, continuing into 2023. Real estate funds have become significant players in the industry today, even though tourism is not their primary focus.

Hotel transactions in Greece have intensified since 2015 and beyond. Since then, more than 150 deals related to the hospitality sector have been concluded. These transactions involve operating hotels and luxury resorts, abandoned properties or old buildings suitable for conversion into hotels, as well as real estate sold at auction.

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

Many deals in Spain and France stand out, accounting for 44% of the total investment volume, also benefiting from the revival of tourist flows to Southern Europe.