Atlantica Hotels & Natalie Tours Invest in Greece

Atlantica Hotels & Resorts -50 percent of which belong to TUI Travel PLC- and Natalie Tours, a leading Russian tour operator, have agreed to jointly build some 20 four-and five-star hotels in Greece in the next five to seven years. Both sides met during the Russian-Greek Business Council meeting held as a part of the sixth joint Russian-Greek governmental commission on economic, industrial, scientific and technological cooperation.

Both companies announced this investment plan during a press conference held in Athens recently. The aggregate investment volume is estimated at 1.2 billion euros of which both sides plan to jointly invest 600 million euros and another 600 million would be collected from independent investors. Prime areas for construction include Peloponissos, Rodos, Crete and Kos. This, according to representatives from both sides, will help both companies in strengthening their positions in their respective sectors.

President of Natalie Tours, Vladimir Vorobiev, announced, “The amount of Russians coming to Greece could reach four million by 2012, and Natalie Tours plans to cover some 30 to 35 percent of this market, that is, 1.2 to 1.5 million tourists annually.” With this investment an additional 10 thousand new rooms are to be constructed that would partially cover the need for some 50 thousand rooms Greece ideally requires to cover the prospective demand.