TUI Group

Greece is going to battle it out with Spain and Portugal to attract the biggest possible share of tourists from major markets this summer, especially Germany, as the big German tour operators have started aggressively promoting packages to Greece and the Balearics - the islands that have done better at combating Covid-19 than continental Spain.

The Chinese unit of Germany's TUI, the world's biggest tourism group, said on Sunday it has resumed offering holiday packages in China and urged the European Union to lift travel restrictions in place to curb the coronavirus.

Cancellations of bookings at Greek hotels for the months after April are coming thick and fast, while major tour operators such as Tui are citing "force majeure" for its suspension of payments and the list of cruise operators and airlines canceling their plans is growing.

German tour operator Tui AG is signing new, long-term contracts with Greek hoteliers who were not previously in its portfolio, in a bid to expand further in Greece after the collapse of rival British company Thomas Cook.

As the latest estimates regarding just how hard Greek hotels have been hit by the collapse of UK travel giant Thomas Cook are pointing to unpaid invoices of some 230 million euros, and the government is assessing its options in terms of response measures, the now-dominant European tour operator, Tui AG, is sending one of its big bosses to Greece.

The Greek branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has launched an initiative in cooperation with Unilever Food Solutions aimed at curbing food waste at three hotels.

Friedrich Joussen, chief executive officer of travel operator Tui, told Kathimerini in an interview published on Sunday that even more important than lower taxes are laws "being applied to everybody," including social security contribution provisions.

Two global tourism giants with assets in Greece are about to join forces, Thomas Cook has suggested, announcing that it is in talks with its 15 percent stakeholder Fosun Tourism for a share capital increase in the British tour operator that will see Fosun assuming control.

UA|TV Ukraine's international broadcasting TV channel has appeared in the TV packages of Bulgaria's hotel networks RIU Hotels & Resorts and Fort Noks OOD.

Hotel chain Grecotel has completed investments of 42 million euros since the start of this year, focusing on the modern demands of luxury tourism, an area in which it is a dominant force with 32 complexes in select destinations across Greece.