The next day after the ‘end of season’ of the Mouzenidis group

By Matina Harkoftaki

When the powerful man of the Mouzenidis tourist group, Boris Mouzenidis, passed away last spring in Moscow after complications due to a coronavirus, many believed that the building he had built all these years would continue in the hands of his descendants. of and more specifically of his son John. Few, however, knew the true picture of a multifaceted business venture with large openings and many risks. The news of the bankruptcy, a few months later, came to confirm the whispers that had already begun to be heard and to mark the beginning of the end of an empire, which included from a travel agency, renting and managing hotels throughout Greece, children’s camps to mall, construction company and small airline, Ellinair.

Indicative of the diverse activity of the group is that in GEMI the company’s brand names include Mouzenidis Travel, Bomo Hotels, Bomo, Tourist Kassandra, Grekomed, Grekomania, Solun, Active Mice, Elion Club, Enigma Mall, Enigma Shopping Center Greekoleto, Igen, Ellin Camp and Big Fish.

The beginning of the end

“If the late Boris were alive, things would not get to this point, he would certainly be able to maneuver them,” said sources who knew him well and had worked with the businessman for a number of years. Although it no longer matters, Boris Mouzenidis could possibly have prevented the fall and saved his giant creation from destruction. The only thing that is certain is that in some cases the ability to deal with the unpredictable that life brings is not enough. The unprecedented conditions and suffocating environment created by the global health crisis, leaving no room for maneuver and flexibility in companies like Mouzenidis, were the ones that played a catalytic role and according to market cycles “gave the shot”, putting them end titles in the era of omnipotence of the Mouzenidis group, which since the 1990s, was the most important tour operator in the incoming tourism from Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe in our country.

After all, he was the one who, about 30 years ago, foresaw the prospects that were opening up and “unlocked” the door for Russian tourists to come to our country. As Boris Mouzenidis had said in previous interviews, it all started in 1992 when he settled in Greece from Georgia, having the profession of car mechanic. It was the phrase of a friend of his that “in Greece we have sun and sea”, which acted as a trigger to open the first tourist office in Thessaloniki, initially addressed to tourists from Russia and then expanded to other Eastern European countries. Thus began a long journey in the tourism industry, reaching about 1,500 employees during the summer season and in addition to Greece to have a presence in 16 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic. At its peak, the group had a turnover of up to 350 million euros while selling everything from holiday packages – about 300,000 in one summer – to properties through Grekodom. Until 2019, it held the lion’s share in the movement of Russian tourists in our country with main destinations such as Halkidiki, Athens, Crete, Evia and the Peloponnese. Everything, however, was overturned by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. The numbers, after all, speak for themselves and are relentless. According to the official data of the Bank of Greece, the arrivals from Russia in 2019 had reached 583 thousand while in 2020 the arrivals fell sharply to 26 thousand. The huge blow to tourism combined with the large openings of Mouzenidis Travel – culminating in the Ellinair airline project, which absorbed a significant portion of its resources and the loss of its founder, plunged the once state-run tourism organization into dire straits. .

The next day

The news of the suspension of Mouzenidis Travel’s activities and the request for protection from its creditors last June caused a “freeze” in the domestic market for the first time, followed by the announcement for the suspension of Ellinair. With liabilities approaching 100 million euros, the company had filed an application for an extension of the precautionary measures, which, however, was rejected by the Multi-Member Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki at the beginning of the year, which may pave the way for monetary claims from its creditors. In addition, at the end of January he filed for bankruptcy with the Russian arbitral tribunal for the group’s activities in the Russian market. The closure of Mouzenidis Travel left a gap in the Greek tourism market, which needs to be filled in order to maintain balance and not to tear down the foundations laid by Boris Mouzenidis.

Already some former executives of the group, using their experience have created their own companies, trying to chart their own course in tourism, which in the last two years has been called to face several challenges. Finally, most of the hotels under the Bomo hotels umbrella have been leased by other companies including HotelBrain.