'Greek hotels preparing for surge in Indian tourists with direct flights next year:' Wyndham's Dimitris Manikis

NEW DELHI: My Big Fat Greek Wedding is preparing for the feras now. Hotels in Greece have begun customising their menus, kitchens and even rooms for the Indian visitor as the country anticipates a surge in their numbers early next year when direct flights start for the first time between Athens and Delhi & Mumbai, according to American hospitality major Wyndham Hotels’ Greek president (EMEA) Dimitris Manikis.

Manikis, who currently has 91 franchise hotels in India led by the Ramada brand and expects to hit a century by this year end, is picking up chefs and other workers from these places for the 14 Wyndham properties in Greece. “There are certain things that are very important for the Indian traveller. These include F&B (food and beverage), especially breakfast where some items are a must. The menus are being curated to include Indian dishes. Kettle in the room is a must too. And yes, bigger rooms as Indians travel in groups — like a big family with the couple, their parents and children,” said Manikis, who was born and brought up in Athens and is Wyndham’s president for Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA).

Indian travellers are going to be the “biggest outbound force to reckon with” in coming years thanks to the growing aspirational middle class with higher disposable incomes. Manikis is looking at taking hotel professionals from India to more properties abroad, including Greece. “In India, ‘guest is God’ (athithi devo bhav). We (the western hospitality players) seem to have forgotten that concept and need to transfer the same.”

Seeing how direct connectivity created new destinations like Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam for the great desi globetrotter, Greece is expecting a similar surge and preparing for the same. While desi tourists’ interest in Greece has been growing for some years, direct flights will be a “game-changer”.

“A decade back, Athens did not have any Indian restaurant, now it has 30-40. Today I travel via Dubai, Doha or Istanbul. It takes 7-8 hours longer (that a direct flight) and costs much more. That will change early next year when IndiGo & Aegean (largest airline of Greece) start direct flights and Air India could also be there,” he said.

With increased connectivity thanks to the large aircraft orders of Tata Group’s Air India, IndiGo and new players like Akasa, he expects traveller numbers to increase to India too. “A diverse country like India with a population of over 140 crore got about 1 crore foreign tourists in 2024. Greece, with a population of a crore, got over 4 crore foreign tourists. The India inbound numbers are bound to increase especially given the way the country is investing on infrastructure. The spiritual pull of India along with its F&B will keep pulling in people from across the world,” Manikis said.

Given its pipelines of 50 hotels and the talks it is in for more franchise agreements, Wyndham expects to have 200 hotels in India by the end of 2027. “Our 91 properties here are in the midscale and upper midscale space, with 70% being the Ramada brand. We are opening our first luxury property, Wyndham Grand, in Udaipur. Wyndham is also going to enter the branded residence space in India as the growing middle class will have requirement for the same,” he said.

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