Renovation fever and major investment fuel change in accommodation sector.
Backed by almost half a century of experience in hosting international visitors, as well as the Greek reputation for hospitality, major hotel chains and medium-to-small size units in the Greek capital have embarked on extensive upgrades and long-term renovation programmes in preparation for the Athens 2004 Olympics.

The Athens Stock Exchange's impressive performance of recent years has prompted several hotel groups to apply for listing on the bourse. Both domestic and foreign investor interest in the developing Greek market have given companies the means to raise share capital and fund the sizeable investments in improving the city's accommodation infrastructure.

International brand-name hotels entered the competition at an early stage - the Athenaeum Inter-Continental is close to completing a comprehensive renovation - while top industry players, including Grecotel, purchased centrally - located units and remodelled them entirely.
Almost all units have given themselves a professional makeover, aiming to draw more tourists with eclectic tastes to the capital and, above all, to lure the business traveller and conference organisers. Executive floors, business centres and the concept of "an office in your hotel room" have become almost standard features for Athens hotels.

State incentives
Meanwhile, the development ministry and the Hellenic Tourism Organisation have encouraged the hotel sector to modernise their establishments through financial incentives and government policies which aim to raise the overall quality of the tourism industry.
Development law 2741/1999 allows for the distribution of state subsidies to companies wishing to upgrade their properties. Furthermore, the government, together with industry representatives, is working on a star-rating system for hotels, based on the international standard and due for implementation by the end of the year. In an effort to guarantee quality in tourist services, a presidential decree has already been drafted on the "key" rating system for the country's rented rooms and apartments, which make up 50% of all tourist accommodation.
Of beds and stars

In a 1999 study, theTourism Research Institute (ITEP) confirmed that the Attica region has more than sufficient beds to accommodate Olympic visitors and that new hotels are not required. The study, once again, placed emphasis on raising the standards of the capital's existing units so that they meet the requirements of four-star, five-star and deluxe categories.
Nonetheless, the number of hotel beds in Attica is expected to rise from 70,000 to 85,000 by 2004. An additional 39,000 beds outside Attica (yet close to Athens), 26,000 in rented houses and rooms as well as 5,000 on cruise-ships will further supplement this figure. ITEP estimates 154,500 beds will be available, which more than covers an expected need of 128,500. Athens has more beds than Barcelona did and the same number as Sydney has today.

Athens hoteliers have agreed to set aside 80% of the capital's beds to accommodate the Olympic family during the Games. A contract, guaranteeing room availability, will be signed by hoteliers and the government before the end of the year 2000. Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said it was the first time such a contract would be signed four years ahead of the Olympics. "We want the Games to lead to what we call 'pre-Olympic tourist traffic'. We hope tourists will be attracted by the various events which will be organised and that this rise in arrivals becomes permanent," he added.

Athens 2004 organisers seal accommodation deal to house Olympic Family during Games
The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, the Athens Hotel Association, the Development Ministry and Athens 2004 signed a memorandum that increases the number of rooms in top-category hotels in and around the capital to 21,300 - more than the estimated 19,000 needed to satisfy demand.

Hoteliers commit 90% of rooms
These rooms in 105 luxury, class A and B hotels will accommodate the Olympic Family, which includes officials and sponsors. Hoteliers agreed to supply 12,800 rooms in all, or 90 percent of their available rooms. That is an increase from the 80 percent they initially had been contracted to provide.
An additional 1,500 rooms will be made available by 41 hotels that have not yet signed the Olympic Accommodation Contract, the memorandum said.
For its part, the 2004 Organising Committee said it would ensure 3,000 rooms on cruise ships that will remain docked along Athens coast throughout the Games.

More rooms still badly needed
The government estimates that another 4,000 badly-needed rooms will be created after it abolished a 15-year-old law that prohibited the construction of new hotels in the Athens area.
Government spokesman Tilemahos Hitiris announced that a deal had been reached with the Athens hotel owners union, which threatened to renounce its contracts with the 2004 organising committee in protest at new luxury hotel licenses issued in the capital.
Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said lifting the ban, "enables the founding of new hotels without submitting to restrictions or construction coefficients and in accordance with the general urban and physical planning," according to the memorandum.
Medium range accommodation to be expanded
Hoteliers also agreed to provide more C-class hotel space in which only 1,549 rooms in 36 hotels have been booked so far. Organisers hope to have 4,000 such rooms to "cover part of the needs of Olympic Family members," the memorandum said.
The agreement also called for provisions to make existing hotels accessible for people with disabilities who will need accommodation during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Plans for other areas of housing, including that of spectators, were not covered by the June memorandum, but "these issues will be examined at future meetings," the agreement said.
Organisers have mentioned cruise ships and cities near the capital as possible options to accommodate tens of thousands of expected spectators.

When Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee official in charge of overseeing organisation efforts, last inspected preparations in May, he said he was convinced that severe delays had been overcome but still expressed concern about the accommodations issue, which he considered a top priority along with security and venue construction.

" We still have a concern whether these extra rooms will be ready for Games time. And we would urge the government to do everything possible to facilitate the building of these hotels because this is of a vital importance for the staging of the Games," Rogge said at the time.
The agreement between Athens organisers, the government and hoteliers came one day before the meeting of an interministerial committee that monitors Olympic preparations progress, and just a day before a visit by Rogge, who accompanied King Albert II of Belgium on an official visit to Greece.