Grecotel S. A., part of N. Daskalandonakis Group, is the largest luxury hotel chain in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. As of 2014, the company reported a turnover of 151 million Euro, 1.85 million lodging nights. Grecotel has a total of 35 hotels as of 2017. Hotels in the Peloponnese and Crete operate from March to mid-November, the resort at Cape Sounio ( Attic Riviera) is operational until late December. N. Daskalantonakis Group, the main owner of Grecotel, is a

family business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

, reportedly involved in 60 companies and one of Greece's largest tourism businesses. German tour operator

TUI Group TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known as Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from mining to ...

acquired 50% ownership of Grecotel in 1981. The brothers Nikos and Takis (1931–2012) Daskalantonakis (Δασκαλαντωνάκης), olive oil traders of

Rethymno Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ...

, Crete, in 1976 opened their first hotel outside of Rethymno, Rithimno Beach. Other hotels in Crete followed in the late 1970s to early 1980s. They bought 50% of Grecotel from Cypriot businessman Dimitris Pierides in 1986.Dionysis Thanasoulas
Ο πόλεμος των Δασκαλαντωνάκηδων
Mononews 22 July 2017. In the years leading up to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the owners made substantial investments which however did not yield the expected results. Thus, with the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, the company came into difficulties and in 2012 had to be rescued by TUI Group. The investments specifically concerned the hotels in the historical center of Athens, which fell victim to chronic degradation in the wake of the financial crisis, turning into " immigrant ghettos" rife with crime, coinciding with a drop in lodging nights in hotels there. Within the Daskalandonakis family, there was a prolongued legal dispute over the control of the business, sparked by the financial difficulties, lasting from 2008 to 2017. Founder Nikos Daskalandonakis and his daughter Marie Sifounakis (wife of politician

Nikolaos Sifounakis Nikolaos Sifounakis ( el, Νικόλαος Σηφουνάκης) (born 21 December 1949 in Rethymno) is a Greek politician, former Minister for the Aegean and ex-member of the European Parliament (MEP). He was elected on the Panhellenic Socialist ...

) won the case against his now-ex-wife and his other two children in Supreme Court decision 1340/2017. In 2015, TUI sold its share of the company to the private owners, the Daskalantonakis family. There was some speculation in Greek media regarding possible disputes over further investment plans as the reason for this decision. Vassilis Menadakis was appointed general manager in 2015, replacing George Karatzias.New General Manager appointed to lead Grecotel on its 40th Anniversary
incentivetravel.co.uk 9 November 2015.

References

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External links

agrecofarms.gr
Hotels in Greece Hospitality companies of Europe Hotel chains TUI Group Year of establishment missing

See also

References

External links