Rhodes: Strong blow to tourism – Cancellations of arrivals throughout the island

A very strong blow in the most critical time period of the tourist season struck the tourism of Rhodes due to the fire that is burning forests and properties for the eighth day, without yet showing any abatement.

Despite the promises of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, from the floor of the parliament, that “we will rebuild what we lost, we will compensate those who were injured”, the fact is that 10% of the beds of Rhodes are now empty and the big question is how and if they can return to normality and regain the lost ground on what is veritably “scorched earth”.

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By all accounts, a large part of the tourist season has already been lost for Rhodes, while the extent of the devastation is expected to become clearer in the coming days.

Many hoteliers on the island report that reservations have been canceled, not only in units that are close to the affected areas, but also in other parts of the island. This trend is explained by the fear of many travelers that new fires may break out in other areas of the island that have not been affected so far, while a large number of calls are made by customers asking for an update on the fire picture on the island before traveling to Rhodes.

What’s up with tour operators bookings

In relation to the reservations that have been made through travel agencies and tour operators, it seems that a waiting attitude is being observed in order to see a ray of optimism and to normalize the situation, as the hoteliers of the island estimate. However, changes have started to be made in the holiday dates with the general picture showing that either a different destination within Greece is chosen (e.g. neighboring Kos or Crete), or some tourists who have reservations for the next few days decide to go either to the Spanish Mallorca or to the Turkish coast.

However, the estimates of hoteliers are increasing that the next ten days are lost for the tourism of the island, while fears are expressed that it is possible that the travel traffic of August will be affected.

Flight cancellations

According to TUI data, approximately 1 in 5 visitors to Rhodes has been affected by the fires, or 7,800 of the 39,000 who were on the island. The tour operator has suspended flights to Rhodes from the United Kingdom until Tuesday, while Germany’s TUI is also offering free changes and cancellations until Friday, July 28.

Jet2 has decided to cancel all flights and holidays in Rhodes for one week, until July 30.

EasyJet has announced that its flights to Rhodes are still operating. However, it has canceled all holiday packages until Wednesday.

FTI’s Rhodes trips are also canceled until Wednesday 26 July. Customers can rebook to other destinations free of charge if they wish, as specified by the tour operator. And DER Touristik has canceled all journeys to the south of Rhodes until Saturday 29 July. As for Ryanair, the low-cost airline announced that its flights to and from Rhodes are operating normally despite the fires.