(Yicai Global) Oct. 14 -- Chinese shared accommodation provider Sweetome Group and Greek property developer Filia Group signed a cooperative agreement in Shanghai yesterday, and announced they will set up a joint venture.

This project marks the Shanghai-based shared company's first foray into the European market, The Paper reported.

The collaborative project, 'Filia Estates,' was invested in and built by Filia Group. On the north side of the island of Crete in its capital of Heraklion, it is a comprehensive resort community that consists of a concentrated enclave of hotels and leisure and entertainment facilities that lies a mere 15-minute drive from Heraklion's international airport, and with sea vistas along the entire route.

"Sweetome currently has more than 56,000 units in the global camp, covering more than 280 destinations, and is actively exploring overseas markets," said Luo Jun, its co-founder and that of  its former parent, vacation rental booking platformTujia.

The company will provide home-based housekeeping services to homeowners during vacancy periods to meet their rental management and maintenance needs and will also provide travel accommodation products and exchange experiences for Chinese tourists to Greece, it said, but without providing further details as to these activities.

The prospects for China-Greece cooperation are very expansive, Adonis Georgiadis, Greece's minister of development and investments, said at the signing ceremony. The number of Chinese visitors to Greece will double this year over last year, Greece's tourism ministry projects, with the headcount topping 180,000, but predictions hold that this figure will reach a 400,000 or even 500,000 target next year.

Sweetome formed in 2011 under the aegis of Tujia but adopted a self-tour model. It completed its split from Tujia and set up as an independent entity in 2017. The company applies the shared the accommodation mode mainly because it allows owners to time-share vacancy periods or share them interchangeably.

With the strategic cooperation with Filia, Sweetome's overseas business has now expanded into Australia, Canada, the US, Cambodia, Thailand and Greece.

Editor: Ben Armour