The Cypriot-based Louis Group is securing a firm foothold in Greece through buyouts of existing hotels and the construction of new units. Its most recent purchase was the Louis Imperial Beach on Zakynthos, which lies next to the group’s Palazzo di Zante and Royal Palace, just 17 kilometers from the airport and 15 kilometers from the island’s capital.
The Imperial boasts 96 rooms, which includes 30 first-class studios, 19 first-class suites, and four suites and three studios with individual swimming pools. It also has some 300 square meters of conference area and multi-use rooms that can handle up to 250 delegates.
The company has already invested more than 30 billion drachmas for the purchase of 11 five- and four-star hotels on Crete, Corfu, Zakynthos and Mykonos. The company has a total of 13 hotels in Greece.
Louis Cruise Lines general manager, Stelios Kiliaris, was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that while Cyprus is a mature tourism market, Greece is still in the developing stage. He said there was still room for new hotels in Greece and that the company’s investment mainly concerns acquisitions of existing establishments. In Cyprus, which hosts 2.5 million visitors annually, the group operates a fleet of 14 cruiseships and owns 13 four- and five-star hotels. It employs 7,000 and its turnover for 2000 is expected to surpass $400 million.
