TUI: Sustainable Wines on Crete Ready for Tasting in Summer 2018

At the ITB Berlin trade show last year, TUI and Greek Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura announced the launch of the TUI Care Foundation project on Crete that connects local farmers with local hotels.

One year later, at ITB Berlin 2018, GTP Headlines caught up with Thomas Ellerbeck, Member of the Group Executive Committee and Director of Corporate & External Affairs of the TUI Group, to find out how the project is progressing.

“We have now entered the second year of implementation and are happy to see it growing,” Ellerbeck said on the sidelines of the ITB Berlin 2018 trade show.

Last year, when TUI announced the project, some 40 Cretan farmers were participating. Today there are 190 olive farmers and wine growers.

“Therefore, we expanded the project with a ‘train the trainer’ program in order to provide even better support to the farmers in applying sustainable farming,” Ellerbeck said.

First sustainable wines ready in 2018 summer season

This summer, holidaymakers on Crete will already be able to experience sustainable agricultural products at their hotels. Last year’s harvest produced the first eight types of sustainable wines from indigenous Cretan varieties.

“With the production of the first sustainable wines – a big milestone has been achieved,” Ellerbeck told GTP Headlines.

TUI Magic Life Club Candia Maris

The wine varieties are now available to the public and ready to be tasted. Seven hotels supporting the initiative will be offering these wines to their customers at the beginning of this summer season. Among them, are the TUI Magic Life Club Candia Maris and the TUI Sensatori Resort Crete by Atlantica.

According to Ellerbeck, the project fits to TUI’s understanding of sustainable development in tourism creating real value for the local environment, the culture and the people in the destinations it operates in.

“Especially in Greece, where tourism is one of the most important sectors, we as the market leader want to continue to contribute to further growth,” he said.

“TUI Cares for Crete – Sustainable Food” is a joint project by TUI Care Foundation and Futouris which has the objective of linking the most important economic factors of the island – tourism and agriculture.