Already with 13 hotels in Athens, Thessaloniki, and top destinations throughout Greece, the largest hotel franchising company in the world is preparing to add three new hotels to its portfolio in the Mediterranean country from 2025 onwards.
Piraeus, Halkidiki, and another project in Attica will be the next sure expansions in the period 2025-2026 for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in Greece.
The international hotel chain of 9,200 hotels in 95 countries strongly believes in this market, as stated by Mr. Dimitris Manikis, president of the Middle East, Eurasia, and Africa (EMEA) region of the company.
Mr Manikis currently works in Wyndham's London offices and has held this position since 2018, having had a long career in the hospitality industry, with senior positions at RCI, a well-known vacation exchange company, and having held other positions elsewhere.
As he admits, his father, who ran a retail business in Athens, was inspiration for his work ethic and passion for people. He imparted to him values such as excellent service, a positive attitude, and hard work.
In his current role as EMEA president for the group, he is responsible for developing all Wyndham Hotels & Resorts brands in that geographic region and optimising the performance of all new and existing franchised and company-operated hotels.
He is a member of the Industry Advisory Board for The Hague Hotelschool, a Senior Advisory Board Member for the Alliance for Sustainable Hospitality and a member of the Board of Directors of Christel House Europe.
Mr Manikis, who is due to be in Greece in the coming days to participate as a speaker at the international Resort & Residential (R& R) Hospitality Forum, reveals the plans that the largest international hotel franchising company has for Greece and the country's prospects for further development as a tourist destination.
He also emphasises the remarkable performance of Greek tourism in recent years, pointing out that "international travel interest in Greece remains strong."
At the same time, he also refers to the discussions held by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts for its further development in the domestic tourism market, both in popular destinations in the country and in areas with a smaller footprint of foreign travel traffic.
It should be noted that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is the largest hotel franchising company in the world with 25 brands and approximately 9,200 hotels and has nearly three times the number of registered rewards program members than the annual number of tourist arrivals in Greece, with nearly 112 million members.
Greece as a tourist destination
"Greece very quickly managed to overcome, both in terms of revenue and arrivals, the losses it had as a destination during the pandemic, recording remarkable performances," he said.
"All the data show that this year will also close with a positive sign in terms of the basic tourist figures.
"Despite the intense competition, international travel interest in the country remains strong, creating expectations for further development in the future, while at the same time, the tendency to implement new high-level tourism investments is maintained.
"Within this environment, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts also wants to support Greek tourism with its presence in the Greek market".
Currently, Wyndham has 13 hotels, three of which are located in Athens, two in Loutraki, and one each in Vravrona, Nea Makri, Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, Alexandroupoli, Corfu, Rhodes, and Crete.
The new agreements
"In 2024, we announced two more agreements as a sign of confidence in the prospects of Greek tourism. In fact, these agreements also mark the expansion of our network of partners in the country," he said.
"The first agreement with the real estate development business group DKG Development concerns the creation of the first 'Wyndham' in Piraeus.
"On the beachfront, directly above Marina Zeas, the 'Wyndham Residences Piraeus Marina Zeas' will feature 72 luxury serviced apartments, most with unobstructed sea views, a restaurant, gym and spa, and a multi-purpose event space.
"It will be developed in 4,300 sq.m. in two neighbouring eight-story building complexes. This project is scheduled to welcome its first guests in December 2025.
"The second agreement with the business group Oikos Property Developments concerns the creation of the first 'Ramada Residences by Wyndham' in Greece.
"The complex, which will include 150 tourist accommodations and offer full hospitality services, is located in the Municipality of Aristoteli Halkidiki.
"The development of the investment for the operation of the complex under the brand name 'Ramada Residences by Wyndham, Halkidiki' is expected to be completed in May 2026.
"At the same time, as part of the ongoing development plan in the Greek market, we are very close to closing another partnership to further expand the presence of the chain in the region of Attica."
The group with 112 million members
Mr. Manikis also points to one more special element for the group: "We must understand, above all else, in numbers the value that a partnership with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts brings to the Greek market."
The company has almost three times the number of members in the rewards program than the annual number of tourist arrivals in Greece.
The Greek destination had 36 million international visitor arrivals in 2023, and, as everything shows, it will far exceed 37 million this year.
Similarly, the Wyndham Rewards program offers approximately 112 million registered members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation resorts and vacation rentals worldwide.
It is the leading hotel rewards program in the world, as voted for by readers of USA Today and US News & World Report.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is the world's largest hotel franchisor by number of properties, with approximately 9,200 hotel properties in more than 95 countries on six continents.
It manages a portfolio of 25 hotel brands, and through its network, it has over 893,000 rooms aimed at the everyday traveller.
“The company's rewards program has, as I mentioned, about 112 million registered members, when in early 2023 it had 97 million. This means that the number of members increased by 15 million in less than two years," he said.
"Wyndham franchisees in Europe, the Middle East, Eurasia and Africa benefit from the advantage of an international name like Wyndham's, a combined world-class approach to marketing, distribution, and other resources designed to increase hotel returns.
"In the last six years, Wyndham has invested over 325 million dollars in innovative technology.
"Property owners have access to cutting-edge technology from industry-leading vendors, including innovative property and revenue management systems and an ever-growing number of loyalty program members."
Stefania Souki is a columnist for New Money. Translated by Paul Antonopoulos.
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