At last year’s levels, but with fluctuations per region and with some surprises for established and emerging destinations, the number of pre-bookings made up to February 2025 by individual travelers directly on the official websites of Greek hotels for stays throughout 2025.
The average price per night as well as the average revenue at Greek hotels for the 12 months of 2025 shows an increase of 9% (for each of the two indicators), compared to last year’s respective levels.
These are the results of a survey by Nelios, which draws on pre-booking data from individual travelers at its partner hotels. The data relates to pre-bookings made up to the end of February this year at more than 350 hotels of all sizes and categories nationwide and covers stays for the whole of 2025.
The year 2025 starts with a negative sign in terms of the number of direct bookings in Greek hotels (a 15% decrease in the first quarter), while from the second quarter (+1%) and onwards an upward trend begins (+8% in the third “summer” quarter), which even peaks in percentage terms in the last quarter of 2025 (+25%).
A similar upward trend is also recorded in revenues from direct hotel bookings, particularly in the third and fourth quarters, where increases are strong, in the order of 10% and 35%, while prices (ADR) also show an increase of 5% and 18%, respectively.
Emerging and established destinations are rising sharply in the preferences of travelers for holidays in 2025, while others, according to the latest available data, are “lagging behind,” mainly due to the uncertainty related to the recent seismic activity in Santorini.
“Take-off” of bookings in Thessaly, Halkidiki and Epirus
In particular, an impressive increase in bookings, exceeding 100%, was recorded for hotels in Thessaly and Halkidiki, followed by Epirus in third place (62%).
Emblematic tourist destinations of our country show strong double-digit growth rates of online bookings for 2025, such as Crete (+48%), the Ionian Islands (+38%), and the Dodecanese (+21%), while bookings for hotels in the North Aegean are at last year’s levels.
The impact of the recent earthquake activity in Santorini and the uncertainty it caused to the traveling public is evident. As shown in the pre-booking trends for the Cyclades, the destination shows the largest decrease for 2025, of 21% year-on-year.
The concern for Santorini, which translated into a drop in pre-bookings for the Cyclades compared to last year, seems to have an impact on demand for Crete and Athens as these destinations are important hubs for the transition of tourists to the island. According to Nelios data , pre-bookings for hotels in the greater Athens area show a 9% decrease compared to last year, while pre-bookings for the islands of the Saronic Gulf are down by 6%. Demand for hotels in the Peloponnese is also down 15%.
At the same time, an almost double increase in pre-bookings compared to last year is observed this year for hotels in Cyprus (+87%); as a result, in part, of increased air connections with the destination and the ever-increasing investment of hotels in the internet and direct bookings.
Agios Nikolaos, Pelion, Rethymno and Chania the most dynamic destinations
At the level of individual destinations, Crete is in the top positions of the most dynamic increases in pre-bookings for 2025. “Champions” are Agios Nikolaos, Crete, with an increase of more than 100%; Rethymno (+45%); and Chania (+40%).
Strong increases are also seen in selected coastal or continental destinations in the country, with Pelion (+73%) and Parga (+35%) leading the way. Next is Katerini with a 24% increase, Porto Heli with +17%, and Arachova with +6%.
Islands such as Ios (+38%), Corfu (+27%), Naxos (+14%) and Rhodes (+9%) are moving upwards, while on the other hand, famous island destinations such as Mykonos, Santorini and Paros are down by 23%, 27% and 11%, respectively. Kefalonia and Zakynthos are also moving downwards according to pre-bookings so far (-8% and -9%, respectively).
Commenting on the findings, Nelios CEO Dimitris Serifis said, “Demand in terms of searches is up compared to last year, but this is not reflected in pre-bookings, which indicates that this year will also have strong elements of last-minute bookings, a picture that seems to be consolidating in the behavior of modern travelers.
At the same time, the rate of bookings through online travel agencies is, in many cases, higher than direct bookings through the official hotel websites, absorbing a larger share of the percentage of travelers coming to our country outside of the holiday package and constituting the majority of the incoming tourist flow. This may lead many hotels to become trapped, something that hoteliers need to manage strategically by paying more attention to distribution and maintaining their flexibility.”
