Panadvert Presents the Top Hotel Brands in Thessaloniki for 2023

As we continue our quest in uncovering the top hotel brands in various Greek destinations of interest, our research brought us to enchanting Thessaloniki this time.

The second largest city in Greece boasts its own unique charm and has recently been presenting itself as an ideal “city break” destination while it has been witnessing a boom of several new hotels opening in the past few years. It is, thus, surely worth investigating its hotel scene in order to understand the landscape in more depth. 

What follows is the top 10 ranking of the top hotel brands and a comparison to the searches made this year versus 2022 along with insights on the hotel landscape of the city.

The top hotel brands in Thessaloniki

In our study, we utilised search volumes for 2023 up until the end of October  as part of our methodology. Through this data, we were able to gain a detailed view of how search volume for various hotel brands in Thessaloniki changed throughout the year. In addition, by analysing and combining data from Google Trends, Bing, social media posts, mentions, and data from Social Media Sentiment Analysis and Social Listening we were able to produce a more holistic picture.

With the help of all these different data sources, we were, thus, able to create a comprehensive picture of the hotel industry in Thessaloniki and rank the top hotels in a more nuanced and accurate way than by relying solely on one data source.

The PRSI (Panadvert’s Relative Strength Index)

In order to complete this study, we utilised our PRSI, a comprehensive overview of the relative brand strength of different hotel brands in Thessaloniki on a range from 0-1000. This index serves as a valuable benchmark for hotel businesses to determine their position in the market compared to their competitors and explore strategies to enhance their brand power.

The final ranking is as follows:

1. Makedonia Palace
2. Electra Palace Thessaloniki
3. Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki
4. Capsis Hotel Thessaloniki
5. MonAsty, Thessaloniki, Autograph Collection
6. City Hotel Thessaloniki
7. ONOMA Hotel
8. Imperial Palace Classical Hotel Thessaloniki
9. Holiday Inn Thessaloniki, An IHG Hotel
10. Vanoro Hotel

According to our PRSI, Makedonia Palace, a 5-star luxury hotel, is the most popular hotel in Thessaloniki this year, with a PRSI Score of 1000, based on the data we have taken into consideration and analysed. Interestingly, most of the top 10 is also made up of 5-star hotels, namely Electra Palace Thessaloniki (#2), Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki (#3), MonAsty, Thessaloniki, Autograph Collection (#5), ONOMA Hotel (#7), Holiday Inn Thessaloniki, An IHG Hotel (#9) and Vanoro Hotel (#10), with the ones left being 4-star properties.

This shows that potential guests are interested in luxury accommodation in the city, while also showcasing that it is a particularly competitive market for this type of accommodation.

The fluctuations

As we have said before, popularity is a dynamic concept and, as it is normal, it can fluctuate over time depending on several factors. The following table sums up the percentile difference from the searches concerning the top 10 hotels this year compared to 2022. In the middle column, the percentage of the total searches that each hotel amounted to is also evident; for example, the related searches for the top hotel, Makedonia Palace, accounted for 6.41% of the total searches made for hotels in Thessaloniki. In total, the searches for the top 10 hotels amounted to approximately 45% of the total searches made for hotels in Thessaloniki.

Thessaloniki Top Brands Fluctuations

Compared to 2022, the popularity for these hotels has only increased this year. As far as the individual properties are concerned, MonAsty Thessaloniki exhibits the biggest increase in popularity compared to last year, with a stunning 283% increase in related searches – which could be owed to the “buzz” of it being a brand new hotel and is in Marriott Bonvoy’s roster of properties – followed by Holiday Inn, whose popularity doubled compared to 2022. The least increase is evident in City Hotel Thessaloniki (+32%) followed by Makedonia Palace (+40%).

Heritage Brands vs Hotel Chains

In the top 10 presented above we find that the top two spots are occupied by two heritage hotels that have been present in the city of Thessaloniki for decades; Makedonia Palace (#1) and Electra Palace (#2) – opened in 1960 and 1972 respectively – have been landmark hotels and have been inextricably woven in Thessaloniki’s hotel scene for so long that it virtually comes as no surprise that they are the top brands and with a score that exceeds the rest by several points. 

An observation that we had made in our “The Power of Branding: A Study of the Top Brands – Hotels and Restaurants in Mykonos” article and applies in the present study is that hotels with a long-standing history and many years in business tend to have a fairly good ranking, regardless of the quality of their digital presence. This is an important factor to consider in the power of a brand, as time can work as a marketing force in and of itself.

On the other hand, the ranking also includes hotels that are incredibly “young” and have only entered the Thessaloniki market in the past few years, like the Vanoro Hotel (#10) and ONOMA Hotel (#7), which is an incredible feat considering they are up against the two heritage “titans” just mentioned and mammoth international hotel chains like the Hyatt Hotels (Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki – #3) and the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) (Holiday Inn Thessaloniki – #9).

Hotels that belong to a well-known chain or are part of a hotel group tend to have an advantage and extra boost in their brand power due to the audience’s familiarity with the mother brand. This could be the case for MonAsty Thessaloniki, which is part of Marriott Bonvoy’s Autograph Collection group of properties, and despite being open for merely a year, it has climbed to #5 of the top hotels in the city. 

Why is strong branding essential?

Success in a highly competitive market requires a combination of strategic planning, marketing expertise, and strong branding. It is essential to stay up-to-date with changing trends and consumer preferences while focusing on providing quality service and building a reputation that will stand the test of time. Ultimately, the success of a brand is a reflection of the efforts and expertise of the people behind it.

Speaking from the perspective of sales and hotel revenue management, a strong brand is critical. In a hypothetical scenario where all hotels had the same price, the hotels on the list above would fill up in the order they appear. However, there are additional parameters to consider, such as demand and popularity in relation to the number of rooms. Smaller hotels may have an advantage over larger hotels in terms of pricing if the demand is the same but with less supply. This means that they can sell at higher prices. By taking into account these factors, hotels and businesses in the hospitality industry should strategically work to build and maintain a strong brand that can lead to increased revenue and profitability.

One note is that the shift in rankings towards the bottom of the list is much easier than at the top. That is to say, it takes much more effort to move from position 4 to position 2, for example, than it does to move from position 200 to 100. This is because the higher a hotel is on the list, the more popular and established it is, and the harder it is to displace it. Conversely, the lower a hotel is on the list, the less established it is and the more room there is for growth and improvement.

The importance of digital marketing for newly established hotels

Brand affiliation alone is not sufficient – hotel businesses need to understand that having a strong brand is just the starting point, and investments in effective marketing and advertising strategies need to be made in order to fully maximise the potential impact of their brand. For Vanoro Hotel and ONOMA Hotel, both of which are relatively new hotels without a prominent hotel group backing them and giving them the extra “boost”, investment in marketing and digital marketing in particular was a one-way street. In the case of Vanoro Hotel, Panadvert took over all its digital marketing activities in its first year of operation, including performance advertising and social media management. This led to the hotel’s brand awareness growing fast and efficiently since it is included in the top 10 of the most popular hotel brands in Thessaloniki only 2 years after its opening. 

Panadvert’s collaboration with ONOMA Hotel, on the other hand, centered around the production of a social media campaign that would incorporate strong visual content with the support of an important social cause: Awareness for HIV. The campaign was a success on social media and received significant press coverage in various industry-related media and beyond. You can see all the campaign details here.

All aspects of digital marketing – social media, performance advertising and content production – are going to continue their prominence well into 2024 as we highlighted in our Top Trends in Hospitality in 2024, so hoteliers need to focus on their digital presence in order to continue their reign amongst the top.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our exploration of Thessaloniki’s hotel landscape for 2023 has unveiled a dynamic and competitive market, reflecting the city’s rising prominence as a sought-after destination. The top 10 hotel brands present a mix of heritage establishments and newer entrants, showcasing the diverse strategies employed by these businesses to secure their positions.

The dominance of 5-star luxury hotels in the top ranks indicates a growing interest in high-end accommodations in Thessaloniki and, as Makedonia Palace and Electra Palace made very clear, the enduring impact of a longstanding presence should not be overlooked, even in the digital age. 

As Thessaloniki continues to captivate travellers, the insights gathered from this study serve as a valuable guide for hoteliers and industry stakeholders aiming to navigate the evolving landscape, capitalise on market trends, and cement their position in this vibrant and competitive destination. 

Contact Panadvert today and let’s craft together winning digital marketing strategies that not only amplify recognition of your brand but also spark heightened search interest, culminating in significant boosts to reservations and revenue.