Greece – TUI Ink Deal to Boost Tourism

TUI CEO for Hotels & Resorts, Cruises and Destination Experiences Sebastian Ebel and Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis.

Greece and German tour operator TUI said on Tuesday, that they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at assisting in the recovery of the tourism sector in the aftermath of Covid-19.

The deal was signed on the island of Kos, by Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis and TUI CEO for Hotels & Resorts, Cruises and Destination Experiences Sebastian Ebel.

More specifically, under the agreement which Theoharis described as being of “strategic importance” demonstrating TUI’s support of Greek restart tourism efforts, the two sides pledged to bring 50 percent of TUI’s total travelers in 2019 to Greece by the end of the year.

Last year, nearly 3 million tourists visited Greece through TUI programs.

In this direction, Ebel said there was strong demand for Greece as demonstrated through its reservation systems, and urged the country’s partner hotels to re-open in order to meet the demand.

“I will be disappointed if we do not reach the goal of 50 percent with Greece,” said Ebel, adding that TUI will make every effort to ensure that the group’s 130 planes fly full capacity to Greece.

The deal foresees first-time joint marketing actions for the promotion of Greece as well as activities aimed at extending the tourist season “at least to November” and to contribute to sustainable tourism development.

Other actions include the introduction of new cruise itineraries for this and next year and paper-free experiences.

“This agreement is very important in our country’s efforts to cover lost ground. It sends out a signal to every tourism professional that it is in their interest to open this year and allows us to look to the future with reserved optimism,” said Theoharis.

On Monday, TUI said it was launching its summer holidays 2020 schedule with Greece among the first destinations.