Tourists whose holidays on the Greek island of Rhodes were cut short due to intense wildfires are being offered a one-week free stay next year, the Greek prime minister said.
Holidaymakers and local people were forced to flee homes and hotels as the fires burned for days in July, with about 20,000 tourists rescued from danger in the largest evacuation ever undertaken by the country.
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said just 15% of Rhodes had been affected by the blazes, and the situation was now “back to normal”, though authorities “understand it caused some inconvenience for visitors”.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he said: “For all those whose holiday was cut short as a result of wildfires, the Greek government in cooperation with local authorities will offer one week of free holidays on Rhodes next spring, the next fall, so that we make sure they come back to the island and enjoy its natural beauty.”
There were no immediate details on exactly how the offer would work, or if flights would be included. The offer appears to exclude the peak summer season on the island.
Many overseas visitors from resorts in the south-east of the island, where the fires spread in July, were placed in emergency shelters in schools and other public buildings and flown back early by tour operators who organised an airlift.
Mitsotakis said: “We’ve always had the wildfires in the Mediterranean for millennia. What has changed over the past few years as a result of climate change is their intensity.
He added: “We have no active wildfires as we speak and the weather for the next 15 days looks relatively benign.”
Tourism is the main driver of Greece’s economy, which emerged from a debt crisis in 2018, and Rhodes, the ninth largest island in the eastern Mediterranean, is a popular holiday spot.
The blaze broke out on 18 July in central Rhodes and, fanned by strong winds, the flames spread to the eastern and southern coasts, an area with many beach resorts.
Greek authorities said on Wednesday that 45 buildings have been damaged on the island, according to an initial assessment of the impact.
The fires killed at least five people in Greece and scorched nearly 50,000 hectares (123,500 acres), according to the Athens Observatory.
Greek travel agents have launched a “Rhodes is safe” campaign to lure back holidaymakers. “Rhodes today is more welcoming than ever, the island is back to normal,” the prime minister told ITV.
For more than 10 days last month, Greece experienced what some experts say is its longest July heatwave recorded in decades. Temperatures hit 46C (114F) but have since dropped.
