Tourists affected by Rhodes wildfires offered free holidays by Greek prime minister

Aug 02, 2023

Around 20,000 tourists were evacuated from the island of Rhodes last month

The Greek Prime Minister has promised British tourists a free trip after their holidays were cut short. Last month around 20,000 tourists were evacuated from resorts across the south of Rhodes due to forest fires breaking out and ravaging 15 per cent of the island.

Emergency shelters were set up at the time, but the island has since returned to normal reports The Daily Express. The Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has stepped in with a very generous offer.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “The island is perfectly back to normal. The Greek Government will offer one week of free holiday on Rhodes next spring or fall to all of those whose holiday was cut short by the forest fires.”

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The Greek Government has yet to clarify how the offer will work and what will be covered for eligible tourists. But the offer appears to exclude holidays in the peak summer season so tourists will need to opt for a spring or autumn trip instead.

No further details have been provided. It’s not yet known whether flights will be included in the offer or how holidaymakers will prove they are eligible for the deal.

The Prime Minister said: “We have no active wildfires as we speak and the weather for the next 15 days looks relatively benign.” He said that climate change had caused fires to become more intense in Greece in recent years.

While Rhodes was one of the worst affected holiday destinations in the fires, Corfu, Evia and Magnesis were also impacted. In Rhodes, more than 2,000 people had to be evacuated, many of whom were tourists including Britons.

The incident led major holiday providers including Jet2 and TUI to cancel holidays to Rhodes. There have also been dangerous fires in areas of Italy, including on the island of Sicily, this year.