Recent protests against plans by Mitsis Hotels to take over the historic Ideal Cinema on Panepistimi Street and entrust its operation to a large company as a multifunctional entertainment and conference facility led to a cross-party consensus of the city council to declare Ideal and Astor mothballed when used. .

“We are quite clear that this discussion goes beyond two historic cinemas. It has to do with the DNA, identity and personality of Athens,” the Mayor of Athens said at a press conference yesterday. Kostas Bakoyannis. “We want economic development, investment, visitors (…), but we don’t want to turn into classic ancient Greek Disneyland“, write down.

Roughly conveying the observations of an eminent Dutch-American sociologist Saskia Sassen for the city, it is “Capital, Government and Citizens” that constitutes its synthetic content. “And not infrequently the city is created through their conflicts“, – says a professor at Columbia and London University, who highlights in her work the deterioration of the character of cities due to the reduction of public buildings and spaces and the growth of large private property. “Cities are places where those who do not have power can make History and culture, thereby complicating her impotence,” she wrote in the past.

Changing use and private initiative

The Schliemann-Mehl mansion, which houses the Ideal cinema, is to be turned into a hotel, for which many Athenians and patrons of the centerthey feel that this does not meet any of the needs of the locals.

“They close bookstores or butcher shops in Exarchia and open shops with hipster socks.‘, a resident of the city characteristically tells ‘K’, showing the change in the use of spaces as an indisputable example of the opinion that Athens is heavily ‘touristy’.

“In recent years, there has been a very strong trend towards the transformation of territories or increased use that serves the tourism economy,” says K. Dimitra Siatica, Candidate of Urban Planning Sciences, member of the Open City faction. “With the change in use, the physiognomy of the quarters changes. Where there was a retail trade, we have bars, cafes and shops targeted at a certain population. The city center acquires brands and international companies that they repeat the same consumption package in different cities of the world“, speaks.

According to the Deputy Mayor for Urban and Building Infrastructure and Urban Planning of the Municipality of Athens, Vassilis – Foivos Axiotis, the biggest evidence that there is a balanced development of all the needs of the city, including extroversion towards tourists and improving the quality of life of permanent residents, is the allocation of budget for infrastructure projects. “Approximately 60% are decentralized, that is, in municipal apartments behind the 1st,” he tells K. “If we wanted to make a tourist Disneyland, we would throw 80% of the budget into the city center,” he notes.

However, the ongoing transformation of Athens’ historical sites into businesses of tourist interest is indicative of a prevailing trend in Athens, which is also shaped by private individuals. “The municipality does not automatically agree with what is being done in the city on a private initiative.“, answers Mr. Axiotis.

Pointing out to him, for example, changing the use of the Stoa of Arsakis, better known as the Stoa of the Book, a symbolic place of culture, to a “dining room”, the Vice Mayor points out: “My personal opinion is that I would prefer the Stoa of the Book to a food hall. However, as deputy mayor, I do not have the authority to do so. And if you ask me Why is this happening? Why Athens is “selling”. Therefore, private initiatives are trying to find a place to increase the tourist product of Athens. However, this does not mean that the municipality can prohibit it,” he concludes.

How many hotels can a city serve?

In addition to the conversion of the Schliemann-Mel mansion into a hotel, the neoclassical buildings of Omonia Square, Bagion and Megas Alexandros, are also expected to add to the city’s fleet of hotel units.

According to Survey of the Attica Hoteliers Association – Argosaronikos, the main indicators of Athens’ tourism development capacity have deteriorated in recent years. “There is one oversupply of beds in Attica,” says “K” about Eugene Vassilikos, Secretary General of the Union. “Not only new ones are opening, but also hotels that were closed in the past and are being reconstructed to reopen. I think what’s important is that in order for hotels to continue to open and tourist spots in general, we have to decide what we want for tourism in Attica as well,” he notes.

According to the Attica-Argosaronia Hotel Association, in order for Athens to receive more tourists, they need infrastructure. “From the metropolitan convention center – we don’t have one today – (to encourage conference tourism) to how much garbage the Athens municipality can collect every day,” says Mr. Vassilikos. “It’s all part of her strategy which must be resolved in order to be stable, because this is the most important thing for an investor. I’m not sure it’s still clear what we want to achieve in Athens in terms of tourism,” he stresses.

Short term rental headache

Short-term rentals also contribute to an overabundance of tourist spots. The latest figures from the Union show that increased by 374% compared to 2015., with the country ranking first in terms of overnight stays last month, followed by Norway and Portugal, according to AirDNA analysis. “We don’t have a occupancy that justifies the constant opening of new ones,” concludes Mr. Vassilikos, while the increase in rental rates in February reached 60% compared to the same month last year.

“The municipality of Athens is for hotel tourism, we are not for airbnb,” says the deputy mayor of Athens. “Airbnb is destroying the city’s proper tourism and, in addition to losing revenue for the municipality, it also brings a surge in rents, which is contrary to our basic doctrine of “balanced development between tourism and residents.”

The problem of rising rental prices was noted in the report by all respondents. The decrease in the number of houses for rent and the constant increase in rents over the past five years is a direct result of the expansion of short-term rentals in the vicinity of Athens. Airbnb’s expansion is bringing “changes in prices and changes in daily usage” in areas of Athens that are changing “to meet tourist demand”, according to Ms Statica.

However, the “industrialization” of the phenomenon is typical, since the real estate leased out for short-term leases, for the most part, does not belong to individual citizens who are simply looking for a parallel source of income. In short term rental company link they are listed 4 365 objects barely owned 91 owners.

In the wake of another dispute about the functions of Athens – those that give birth to cities, as scholars such as Sassen are well aware – enters question of authenticity. As early as the 1970s, analysts recognize the tourism phenomenon as the “modern quest for authenticity” and believe that, after all, cities must remain true to their idiosyncrasies in order to be attractive. “For Athens to be ideal for tourism, it must also be ideal for its citizens.. If it becomes ideal for permanent residents, it will also be ideal for tourists,” says Mr. Vassilikos eloquently.