ATHENS — TUI Group, the largest tour operator in the world sent a message for the restart of the Greek tourist industry from the island of Kos on Tuesday.

Sebastian Ebel, member of TUI's Executive Board and responsible for Destination Experiences, Hotels & Resorts, Cruises and Group Purchasing referred to the strong demand for reservations in Greece, as seen in its reservation systems, and urged the hotels in Greece that cooperate with TUI to open their doors.

Earlier, the Greek Tourism Ministry and TUI Group had signed an agreement of strategic importance according to which TUI will aim at bringing over 1.5 million tourists to Greece this year.

Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis expressed his satisfaction over this development and underlined that the specific agreement on one hand sends the message of the dynamic restart of the Greek tourism industry in the international tourism stage and on the other hand creates new conditions for the tourism flows to Greece.

On his part, Ebel said that the international tour operator will do whatever possible in order for the company's 13 airplanes to fly full with passengers to Greece, "I will be dissappointed if we do not meet the 1.5-million-tourist goal," he said.

Ebel also observed that it is an exceptional opportunity for Greece this year to attract clients that the previous years visited exotic destinations and make them want to return, as Greece is an excellent destination.