- Rethymno taps into conference tourism to extend the season past October
- Theartemis Palace reports 85% occupancy in May, while others struggled
- New conference center ensures business events keep the lights on until mid-November
- A model of family cooperation and wise investment is paying off
From Ghost Town to Full House
Every October, Rethymno used to slip into semi-hibernation. The beaches thinned, the tavernas slowed, and hotels shut their doors faster than you could say tsikoudia. But not anymore. Enter conference tourism: the not-so-secret weapon that keeps the city buzzing while other resorts are folding up the sunbeds.
Take Theartemis Palace. Back in May, while much of the town was still struggling with low occupancy, this hotel made a strong entrance with an 85% occupancy rate, thanks to its newly opened conference center. Now, it plans to stay open until mid-November, hosting meetings and events that prove people will indeed fly to Crete for PowerPoints and panels—especially if there is raki at the coffee break.
A Family Affair with Staying Power
Theartemis Palace is not just another concrete block with a pool. Born in 1988 from the unlikely marriage of two local families—the Tsiurlakis landowners and the Birliarakis hoteliers—it has been a Rethymno staple for nearly four decades. The name itself is a tribute to the founders’ mothers, Theopisti and Artemis, which is possibly the most Greek hotel origin story ever told.
Now in its second and third generations, the families are proving that the best inheritance is not just property, but a shared vision. Their new conference center is more than an investment in bricks and chairs—it is a strategy that keeps Rethymno in business long after the last charter flight leaves.
While the mega-tour operators like TUI funnel their guests into branded resorts, Rethymno is writing its own playbook. Conference tourism attracts high-spending visitors, fills hotel beds during the so-called “dead months,” and keeps the city’s economy thriving. Instead of relying on sunburned mass tourism, it offers a different kind of glow: laptops lit up in meeting rooms, receipts printed in local taverns, and shop tills ringing deep into autumn.
Rethymno may not have reinvented the wheel, but it has definitely put a new spin on it. Forget seasonal blues—the city has found a way to make November feel a lot more like July.
Alternative report in Greek: Υψηλές πληρότητες και επέκταση της σεζόν φέρνει ο συνεδριακός τουρισμός στο Ρέθυμνο