At the same time, over the last years, there has been a huge increase in the number of luxury boutique hotels and their number of beds, which have increased by 75% over the past decade. The five and four-star hotels are booming, and in 2019 40 new Athenian, SMEs and large hotel companies have been created in total. The professionals of the field are aiming to take full advantage of the positive climate prevailing, while this is true for Greek and foreign entrepreneurs, as Athens has now established itself as a leading European destination due to the above developments.

 

The technological advance and online presence of most Greek accommodation facilities, seems to have played a crucial role in these positive developments. As a matter of fact, it has resulted in higher bookings, probably due to the convenience they offer to potential buyers, but also in large, worldwide exposure, making them even more attractive! The Greek tourism product has been greatly benefited by the increase of mobile, travel applications and websites where the largest number of bookings come from. This close contact with technology, especially for younger people, has created a greater “travel need” since, especially through Social Media, the intense visual stimulus is increasingly encouraging the search for the next travel destination. Apart from that, the technological development of most hotel units that invest in their strong presence makes the booking process, the trip itself, and exploring each location even easier for the user.