Greece has released details of the free holiday it promised thousands of tourists that were evacuated during last July’s fires in Rhodes.
Under its ‘Rodos Week’ program, the Greek Ministry of Tourism will issue vouchers for stays of six nights from 4 April to 31 May 2024, and from 1 October to 15 November 2024.
Guests who were evacuated should have received an email informing them that they’ve been registered for an e-voucher under the ‘Rodos Week’ program by their tour operator, travel agency or hotel. Those who haven’t received an email must apply here before 4 April.
Thousands of tourists were evacuated from local resorts as a devasting wildfire brought chaos to the Greek island.
“The Greek government, in cooperation with the local authorities, will offer a week’s free holiday in Rhodes next spring or autumn” for all those who missed it due to the fires, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised last year.
Conditions for a free holiday on Rhodes
Only visitors who were evacuated from hotels on Rhodes during the wildfires are eligible for the vouchers; those who fled from self-catering apartments or Airbnbs are not included in the program. Each eligible adult will receive a voucher for free accommodation.
As a condition of the e-voucher, the Greek Ministry of Tourism said: “A prerequisite is for the beneficiaries to complete seven overnight stays in Rhodes – six consecutive nights in a hotel of their choice, which, however, is registered in the Hospitality Hotels Registry created for this purpose.”
Further information can be found from the Ministry of Tourism in English here.
There has been some confusion on social media since details of the scheme were announced, with some people believing the vouchers are for a maximum of €500, but UK Director of the for Greek National Tourism Organisation Eleni Skarveli confirmed the limits stated in the official announcement refer to the amount of compensation issued to hotels, not guests.
“Guests should not worry about the cost,” she said, adding that they will be accommodated in hotels ‘similar or even higher’ to their original visit, depending on availability.
The devasting Rhodes fires
The island of Rhodes suffered multiple wildfires, which resulted in an estimated 19,000 people being evacuated by land and sea. The fires burned 13,500 hectares of forest. Emergency alerts were sent to residents on the island to warn them of the wildfires and to evacuate.
The fire department in Rhodes stated the fires there prompted the “largest evacuation operation” ever on the island, with the fire department using 10 firefighting airplanes, eight firefighting helicopters, over 260 firefighters, 49 fire trucks and hundreds of volunteers, among others, to tackle the blaze on the island.
Authorities declared a state of emergency on 20 July 2023 in three municipalities of Rhodes, including Lindos, which is home to many tourist villages.
On 21 July, the Civil Protection ordered the evacuation of the village of Laerma, which is about 10 km from the coastal tourist resorts.
On 23 July 2023, it was announced that 1,200 extra people would be evacuated from the villages of Pefki, Lindos, and Kalathos. Flights to Rhodes from British package holiday company Jet2.com were cancelled until 30 July 2023 and from TUI until 26 July 2023.
On 2 August, the Ministry of Tourism lifted the state of emergency on Rhodes and offered complimentary travel accommodations to tourists who were evacuated from the island in the previous month.