ATHENS / HANOVER - TUI 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 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.
The Greek island of Crete is planned to be developed as a showcase for sustainable catering on holiday. 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.
