TUI

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.

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.

Following three tenders and countless bureaucratic procedures, state sell-off fund TAIPED finally took the decisive step for the utilization of the Afandou plot on the island of Rhodes.

The agreement signed on Wednesday with T.N. Aegean Sun Investments Ltd signals the transfer of the entire Afandou property to private investors.

After having seen a decreasing demand from many Western and northern European markets, Turkey is back in fashion in summer season and has become the third most popular destination after Spain and Greece, Anglo-German travel and tourism company TUI has stated.

The US Marriott Hotel chain is interested in two sites on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. One of them is in Varna and the other is on the southern coast. This was announced by Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova in Varna. But she says it is too early for more specific information.

Europe’s largest travel group TUI said summer bookings for Turkey were recovering, echoing comments by rival Thomas Cook and adding to hopes that pressure on profit margins for tour operators may ease.

European tourism group TUI is putting contingency plans in place for Britain’s exit from the European Union, it said on Dec. 13, aiming to address potential problem areas such as flying rights, visa requirements and changes in demand.