Tornos News — TUI announced its new investment plans for Greece that include the creation of 10 new four-and five-star hotels, focusing on quality services and expanding cruise services.
The leading German tour operator has been able to increase the number of visitors to Greece this summer by around ten percent to 2.5 million. As a result Greece is now the second most important destination for the TUI Group behind Spain.
“Greece is one of the winners of the 2017 summer season. The tourism sector is one of the most important employers for the country”, said the Chairman of the Executive Board of the TUI Group, Fritz Joussen, following a meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens.
Joussen emphasized: “TUI continues to be oriented on growth. We are investing worldwide in hotels, resorts and our cruise lines Hapag Lloyd Cruises, TUI Cruises and Thomson Cruises. The growth in hotels and cruises is also planned to happen in Greece. For this purpose, we require a good infrastructure, hotels in locations close to the sea and well-qualified employees. “The next project is the opening of the third Robinson Club in Greece. TUI has purchased a plot of land on Crete for that purpose.
TUI now operates 32 of its own hotels in the Greek holiday areas. Athens is also the location of TUI Destination Services for the Eastern Mediterranean region. In total TUI employs around 1,300 people in Greece. It is planned to expand the number of Greek employees.
Crete is to be developed as a showcase for sustainable holidays. The international TUI Care Foundation is supporting a project in Crete which brings together the important economic sectors of tourism, agriculture and wine-growing. Under the name “TUI Cares for Crete”, the foundation is networking local producers with hoteliers and the tourism sector.
More and more local products are thus finding their way into the holiday resorts. The project was launched together with the Greek Tourism Minister, Elena Kountoura, and the Governor of Crete. In the meantime, 200 local companies, olive-growers and winemakers in Crete are participating in this project.
About the TUI Group
The German TUI Group is the world’s number one integrated tourism group operating in around 180 destinations worldwide.
In financial year 2015/16, TUI Group recorded turnover of €17.2bn and an operating profit of €1bn.
The Group employs 67,000 people in more than 100 countries. TUI owns leading tour operator brands and 1,600 travel agencies in Europe, five European airlines with around 150 modern medium and long-haul aircraft, more than 300 hotels and resorts with premium brands such as RIU and Robinson.
With cruise ships ranging from the MS Europa and MS Europa 2 luxury class vessels to the “Mein Schiff” fleet of TUI Cruises and the vessels of Thomson Cruises in the UK, TUI is also strongly positioned in the growing cruise sector.
