Metaxa Hospitality Group: Where Luxury Meets Sustainability

Santo Maris Luxury Suites & Spa, Santorini.

“Sustainability is in our DNA” – Andreas Metaxas

Sustainability is a top priority for Metaxa Hospitality Group, which is committed to reducing its impact on the environment while offering its hotel guests authentic and quality Greek experiences.

“The concept of sustainability is in our DNA and is an integral part of our strategy in every form, in all our investments and business transactions,” Andreas Metaxas, the president and CEO of the Metaxa Hospitality Group, said during the recent presentation of the group’s first sustainability report, which reflects the environmental friendly actions of its hotels.

Active on Crete since 1975, the portfolio of the Metaxas Group includes the  Creta Maris Beach Resort and the TUI Magic Life Candia Maris. In 2016 the group invested in a new destination and opened the Santo Maris Oia Luxury Suites & Spa on Santorini. All three hotels offer a total of 1,023 rooms and recorded some 400,000 overnight stays in 2018. The group employs 669 people, 328 men and 341 women.

“All of us – management, executives, employees, associates, suppliers – every day are ‘links’ in a chain of sustainability and responsibility towards the natural and social environment,” Metaxas underlined.

Metaxa Hospitality Group 2018 Sustainability Report

Kostas Bouyouris from “Local Food Experts”, a partner to Metaxa Hospitality Group in its sustainability efforts, presenting the group’s 2018 sustainability report to Greek journalists.

According to the 2018 sustainability report, the social contribution of the Metaxa Hospitality Group last year added up to 24.86 million euros, of which over 5.9 million euros was distributed to staff, 753.418 euros to the state, over 3.4 million euros to insurance funds, 368.837 euros to local authorities and some 14.3 million euros to intra-company transactions (investments, etc.).

Having the needs of the local communities where the group is active – Crete and Santorini – among its top priorities, just last year the group’s 70 percent of raw materials and products were supplied from the Greek market and specifically from 113 food producers on both islands. Supporting the Greek producers led the group to a contribution to the national and local economy worth 2.24 million euros.

Offering authentic Greek experiences

TUI Magic Life Candia Maris, Crete.

The supply of Greek products through the group’s hotels is also linked with its aim to offer its guests authentic Greek experiences.

“We want our visitors to be part of this effort and offer them authentic experiences, top hospitality in unique locations that include elements of Greece’s culture, customs and history, always in accordance with sustainability and social responsibility,” Metaxas highlighted.

As underlined in the report, wanting to spread the word that Greece and each destination’s traditions offer the basis for sustainable business development, the group participates in the “We do local” hospitality initiative, which promotes sustainable development, following the global trends of locality, authenticity, new experiences and gastronomy. “This way we offer high added value to visitors and the local economy, operating on the principles of responsible entrepreneurship and sustainable development,” Metaxas underlined.

Actions carried out by the group in relation with the “We do local” initiative focus on promoting the local gastronomy and culture and have included traditional harvest days, to introduce guests to the process of grape growing and wine making; cooking classes for local recipes; and traditional sheep shearing.

Metaxa Hospitality Group also gets its guests involved with its cleanup operations, crisis management program (earthquake and fire drills) and blood donation days.

Moreover, the group’s hotels on Crete are part of the “TUI Cares for Crete – Sustainable Food” project. Launched in 2017 by the TUI Care Foundation, the project aims to establish a network that will link the most important economic factors of Greece’s largest island – tourism and agriculture.

Committed to sustainable tourism

Kostas Bouyouris, Co-Founder & Chief Projects Officer of Local food Experts; Andreas Metaxas, President and CEO of the Metaxa Hospitality Group; and Manos Borboudakis, General Manager of the Santo Maris Luxury Suites & Spa on Santorini.

“At Metaxa Hospitality Group, we believe there is a direct link between the sustainability of a destination and the promoted tourism development model. Especially in areas of particular natural beauty, such as Crete and Santorini, which are among the first selections of the visitors of our country,” Metaxas said.

The group has developed a comprehensive sustainability program based on best international practices that ensures the protection of natural beauty, biodiversity and social and economic wellbeing, while attracting quality tourism and improving the quality of life of local communities, minimizing any environmental footprint.

Creta Maris Beach Resort, Crete.

The sustainability program includes energy saving by reducing the consumption of conventional energy sources and increasing the use of renewable energy sources; water saving through the sustainable use of water resources; waste management through recycling. The group also runs a program of offering its lefover food to those in need.

For its sustainability actions, Metaxa Hospitality Group cooperates to a great extent with the social cooperative company “Local Food Experts”.

The presentation of the 2018 sustainability report is the first publicity action of the Metaxa Hospitality Group in its steps to strengthen and promote its new corporate identity. Until recently the group was known as the Metaxas Group of Companies.

In regards to future investments, the Metaxa Hospitality Group has already announced plans to open another hotel on Santorini (in the area between Vlychada and the Akrotiri Archaeological Site) in 2020, as well as another unit on Crete.