TUI Sparks Panic With Drachma Warning To Greek Hoteliers

“In recent months, one of the reasons we got into this situation was the misinformation and the fact that markets made reckless movements without taking data and results under consideration,” Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Yeroulanos told US business TV channel CNBC last month.

Mr. Yeroulanos was responding to questions involving German tour operator TUI’s letter to Greek hoteliers, reserving the right to pay in the new currency (drachmas), should Greece exit the euro. “We had a series of irresponsible statements by Eurocrats and politicians that rocked the markets,” the culture and tourism minister stressed.

(At the time, angry eurozone leaders raised the issue of Greece leaving the euro after former Prime Minister George Papandreou called an unexpected referendum on an already agreed EU aid package for Greece.)

According to press reports, a spokesman for TUI confirmed the tour operator’s request and was quoted saying “we have to protect ourselves against these kinds of currency risks.”

On the same subject, the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) sent a letter to all its members and recommended to ignore such requests from wherever they originate.