Comment: Grecotel’s Kostas Sinis on the instinct of hospitality & why the best trade relationships can’t be taught

Filoxenia (Greek: φιλοξενία, or philoxenia) translates literally to "love of a stranger" and is a deep-rooted cultural value across Greece. Far beyond basic hospitality or a business transaction, it is an ancient, unwritten social law of warmly welcoming, protecting and treating strangers like family.

As Odyssia Daskalantonaki (Grecotel’s executive director) recently said: Iin Greece we say filoxenia and its philosophy lies in the notion that hospitality is not a transaction, but a feeling. A feeling in which details are not just details, they are everything." 

A philosophy built on warmth, generosity, attentiveness, and genuine human care; the quiet reassurance that everything will be taken care of. The feeling that someone with a face & name is personally looking after you, long before you even need to ask, or at the very moment you need them most. 

For over five decades, Grecotel has been built around the authentic ethos of warmth, generosity and heartfelt hospitality. Perhaps this is why filoxenia feels so natural within our company. It is not simply a service approach or a business philosophy, it is part of who we are and have been since the very first day.

Within our teams, and especially within sales, there is also a deeper sense of responsibility that cannot be measured professionally. The kind that makes our teams open a message late at night, reply during unspoken hours, or handle an urgent enquiry simply & discretely because they know someone on the other side needs support. Once again there is person with a face and a name.

Odyssia adds: "Guests, agents and other partners return not only to a destination but to people they know. Feelings they want to relive." 

Perhaps this is why the more I reflect on the success of our team, the less I believe it comes down to processes, structures or experience alone. It comes down to people who genuinely care about the details and the understanding that behind every request is a person looking for information, guidance, reassurance or support. Someone trying to succeed in their own role, just as we are trying to succeed in ours.

Accessibility, genuine care and consistency create reliability.

When people are trusted, empowered and given the responsibility to make decisions, that reliability becomes the foundation of long-lasting relationships.

Trust and satisfaction represent a responsibility that must be upheld with profound respect, forming the basis for long-standing relationships and loyalty.

This resonates strongly with me because the most successful trade relationships are built in exactly the same way. Not through transactions, but through trust, consistency and genuine care over time.

When building the Grecotel trade team, my focus was never solely on experience, qualifications or degrees. More importantly, I wanted to find genuine people who naturally carried the values of accessibility, accuracy and care.

And looking back, I believe this has been one of the key reasons behind the success and recognition of our trade team.

Then comes something even more important. The ability to look at a proposal, an enquiry or a simple question and treat it with the same attention and consideration they would give to a close friend. To me, that is the most precious thing of all.

These people have something unique inside, something shaped by their upbringing and the way they were raised to care for others.

When care exists from the beginning it becomes instinctive and it creates something that cannot be copied, taught or replicated.

It creates trust, loyalty, and it creates relationships that last.