Hotel Brain is focusing its 2026 plans on continuing to grow, improving the efficiency of its operations and further developing the Hotel Brain Academy. The hotel group aims to build on the new partnerships and corporate initiatives it launched last year.
According to its 2025 annual financial report, management is placing particular emphasis on managing higher operating costs, retaining and strengthening its workforce, and improving the services it provides, while drawing on the group’s expertise in leasing and managing hotels.
This year’s plans follow a period of business activity that included the creation of Hotel Brain Cyclades, the expansion of its operations in Cyprus and the acquisition of a stake in a company planning to develop luxury hotels in Greece.
Expanding the portfolio
As part of its growth strategy, Hotel Brain entered into new partnerships during 2025. Through Hotel Brain Cyprus LTD, established in 2024, it also signed an agreement to lease another hotel in a prime tourist destination.
According to management, the Cypriot subsidiary operated five hotels during 2025, strengthening the group’s presence in the market.
Hotel Brain International Ltd is also based in Cyprus, with the parent company holding a 70% stake. The company provides support services to third-party hoteliers and, according to the management report, generated sales of more than €2 million in 2025.
As part of its strategy to broaden its operations, Hotel Brain acquired a 33% stake in Brand Hospitality Α.Ε. last year. The company’s long-term plan is to develop a luxury hotel chain across the country.
Another significant move came in December 2025, when the spin-off of Hotel Brain’s Cyclades business was completed and Hotel Brain Cyclades Α.Ε., was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of the group.
The new company is expected to operate more than 30 properties, mainly in Mykonos, Santorini and Paros, with diverse commercial and operating characteristics. The move is part of the group’s reorganisation, aimed at managing its Cyclades portfolio more effectively.
Management believes the outlook for the tourism market remains positive, despite the challenges posed by rising operating costs, geopolitical developments and pressure on businesses in the sector.
“We believe that demand in 2026 is not expected to fall short of 2025 at all, and if geopolitical conditions return to normal, Greek tourism could once again deliver its best performance yet.
Greece has proved that it deserves to rank among the world’s leading travel destinations: the combination of natural beauty, history, safety and a very high standard of service is difficult to match elsewhere”, the financial statements say.
For 2026, management’s main priorities are to improve operating efficiency, manage higher costs and retain staff, amid rising demands on hotel businesses.
Hotel Brain Academy
The group’s plan also includes further developing the Hotel Brain Academy, which aims to strengthen education and training for the hotel sector’s workforce.
This activity is particularly important at a time when staff shortages remain one of the main challenges facing tourism businesses.
Management says its aim is to expand the Academy so that it can provide vocational and theoretical training to people outside the group as well, creating scope for an additional business in tourism education.
Revenue rises, but losses return
The group’s broader operations were accompanied by higher revenue in 2025, but Hotel Brain returned to a loss despite an improvement in operating profitability.
Hotel Brain’s consolidated revenue rose to €143.4 million in 2025, up 16% from €123.6 million in 2024.
Earnings before tax, financial and investment results, and depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came to €6.69 million, compared with €6.19 million in 2024. The group reported a pre-tax loss of €3.42 million, against a profit of €1.24 million in 2024, while its post-tax loss was €3.18 million, compared with a profit of €0.38 million the previous year.
Management attributes the pressure on results, among other factors, to higher operating costs, with price increases and higher expenses weighing on the efficiency of hotel operations.
The group’s total liabilities stood at €65.25 million at the end of 2025, up from €51.89 million a year earlier, while equity fell to about €170,000 from €3.37 million.
The main Cyclades destinations presented a mixed picture in 2025. According to Hotel Brain management, demand in Paros remained at historically high levels, unlike in Mykonos and Santorini, where tourism activity did not recover as much as the market had expected.
Finally, the group’s expansion was accompanied by a significant increase in its workforce, with employee numbers rising to 1,441 at the end of 2025 from 1,013 a year earlier.