By Petros Stefanis

 

Investment interest in the tourism and hotel sectors in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace has rapidly increased recently, mainly on the coast of Kavala and Thassos, with a strong presence of foreign companies from Bulgaria to the Netherlands, Iran and Turkey.

 

More specifically, new hotel investments are underway in popular resorts in both Halkidiki and Pieria.

 

Kavala

 

The Kourtidis Group operates in Northern Greece from the Strymonikos Gulf area to the entire coastal front to Thassos. The large project of the "Alexandrou Chora" resort on the Ofrinio beach in Kavala, has recently entered the construction phase. This is a complex tourism investment that will include a luxurious 157-bed hotel, a tourist village with at least 200 residences and a 40-acre cultural theme park for Alexander the Great. Upon full development, the investment is expected to reach 100 million euros.

 

A large tourism investment is also underway in Keramoti, Kavala, by "MVI HOLIDAYS IKE", owned by Daniel Letchev and Mihail Indzhov from Bulgaria. The project features the construction of two five-star hotels with swimming pools in the Keramoti Farm. The investment will exceed 22 million euros and the goal is to operate the resort in the first half of 2027.

 

A four-star hotel in Nea Iraklitsa, Kavala, as well as two five-key tourist accommodations in Thassos, will soon be built by investors from the Netherlands and Iran who recently came to the region with the contribution of the former president of the Kavala Chamber of Commerce, Markos Dempas. An area of five acres has already been purchased for the project in Nea Iraklitsa.

 

Also in Kavala, Iranian-Canadian businessman Alex Haditaghi has announced the construction of five-star luxury hotels under the brand name "The Hamptons" on the land he has acquired through a HRADF competition in the Nea Iraklitsa area in the former HRADF property, but nothing new has been communicated.

 

"LAAS GLAMPING" is the name of the investment that has also been announced since the summer of 2023 for the creation of a Luxury Camping (Glamorpopous Camping) on the Bati coast in Kavala, under the brand name "LAAS glamping or LAAS Mediterranean Tented Experience", which according to the plan will reach 15 million euros.

 

In addition to the aforementioned investments on the Kavala beachfront, a new hotel investment is also expected in the city of Kavala, in the area of the old Tobacco Warehouses, behind Kamares. This is the Aaron Cimino Tobacco Warehouse, which will be converted into a luxury hotel by a Turkish buyer-investor, who has reportedly made similar investments in Turkey and Bulgaria.

 

Thassos

 

In Thassos, the green light has been given for the expansion and upgrade to the five-star category of a 438-bed hotel on an area of 137 acres in the Makryammos area by the company I.Sarantis S.A. with an investment of around 7 million euros, as well as for the creation of a new four-star hotel in the Skala Panagias area by the company LT BOUTIQUE HOTEL I.K.E. When the investment in Makryammos is completed, it will be the ninth five-star hotel on the island.

 

It is also worth noting that in 2024, more than 30 new accommodations were put into operation in Thassos, the majority of them of small capacity – up to ten rooms, by Balkan owners.

 

Alexandroupolis

 

A new five-star hotel will open in Alexandroupolis with 60 beds called "DIMITRA", on a plot of land of the Aetochori farm, in the Municipal Unit of Traianoupolis.

 

Pieria

 

In Pieria, the road tourism capital of Northern Greece, a 10 million euro investment is transforming the four-star "Mediterranean Princess Adult Hotel," owned by the Mediterranean Hotels Group, into a five-star destination. Meanwhile, the same group is also investing in a new luxury hotel complex in the Super Paradise area of Mykonos. This project, which will be part of the Hilton brand, is slated to open by Easter 2026.

 

Swiss-Greeks Konstantinos and Sotirios Binas will also invest 11 million euros for the creation of "Olympus Elaion", a five-star hotel complex in Plaka, Litochoro, Pieria, with a total capacity of 216 beds.

 

Halkidiki

 

Hotel investments in Halkidiki continue unabated. Among them is the five-star tourist investment of between 120 and 145 million euros in the Sani area, which was recently announced by the former MED ABEE – now "ONYX" for the creation of a luxury resort on a total area of approximately 600 acres, and the model hotel complex that will be built by the well-known tourism entrepreneur and honorary president of the Sani/Ikos Group, Stavros Andreadis, through STANTA AEDA, on the islet of Diaporos, on an area of 100 acres with an investment of 40 million euros.

 

This summer, Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) is set to complete and put into operation an investment of approximately 108 million. This investment includes the renovation and expansion of three out of the six G-Hotels properties now under GSAM ownership, along with a five-star resort in Sarti. The Greek hotel group Mitsis Hotels has entered into a 20-year management agreement with Happy Holidays S.A. for this resort, involving an additional investment of 20 million euros.