Thousands of Brits who fled wildfires in Rhodes last July have been offered a free seven-night stay this year.
Under the initiative, individuals who were evacuated from their hotel stays due to the fires will have the opportunity to claim e-vouchers valued at up to €500.
These vouchers can be applied towards the costs of accommodations for a week-long stay. The program will be conducted in two stages: the first from now until May 31, and the second from October 1 to November 15.
“The scheme is up and running as the prime minister promised,” Myron Flouris, the Greek tourism ministry’s general secretary, told the Guardian.
“It’s been a very complicated process not least, I think, because we’re the first country in the world to do this.”
More than 5,000 holidaymakers have reportedly already signed up for the programme.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis' center-right administration unveiled the plan on ITV's Good Morning Britain shortly after numerous tourists, predominantly Britons, had to prematurely end their vacations due to the wildfires, leading to their evacuation on repatriation flights.
On a Monday visit, Mitsotakis warned that wildfires would grow due to the climate crisis. "The Mediterranean is a climate hotspot, leading to more fires and floods," he stated at a conference in Rhodes, titled "EU Tourism: Resilience in the Climate Crisis Era," hosted by the European Travel Commission.
Thousands were forced to flee their hotels and homes because of the wildfires, in what was described as the biggest safe transport of residents and tourists Greece had carried out.
More than 5,000 British tourists were on the island when the wildfires broke out last summer, resulting in holiday companies being forced to lay on repatriation flights to get people home.
Mitsotakis first made the pledge to offer the week-long holidays last year.
He said: "For all those whose holiday was cut short as a result of wildfires, the Greek government, in co-operation with local authorities, will offer one week of free holidays on Rhodes, next spring [and] next fall, so that we make sure they come back to the island and enjoy its natural beauty."
