Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Wednesday during an interview with Good Morning Britain on ITV that those who cut short their holidays to Rhodes due to wildfires can holiday for one week for free in the autumn or next spring.
Talking about the wildfires, the Greek prime minister also emphasised that "no lives were lost in Rhodes, no injuries reported, we managed to evacuate 20,000 people very, very safely".
"We understand that this caused some inconvenience for visitors, but I am happy to report that Rhodes today is more welcoming than ever; the island is back to normal, and for all those whose holidays were cut short by the wildfires, the Greek government in cooperation with the local authorities will offer one week of free holidays on Rhodes next spring and next fall, so that we make sure that they come back to the island and that they enjoy its natural beauty," he added.
Mitsotakis also emphasised that the devastating fire had only affected 15% of Rhodes, which was now "back to normal".
"We have always had wildfires in the Mediterranean for millennia. What has changed over the past years due to climate change is their intensity. Yes, we had a devastating fire on Rhodes, but it affected less than 15% of the island. The island is perfectly back to normal, we have no active wildfires as we speak, and the weather for the next 15 days looks relatively benign," he said.
The Greek Ministry of Tourism and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) are running international promotions of tourism on Rhodes, following the reopening of hotels affected by a devastating fire on the popular island.
The promotions include the following:
a. Trips for journalists and opinion makers to Rhodes within August from key markets including Great Britain, Germany, France, Poland, the Low Countries (Benelux) and Italy, aiming for testimonials that the destination is safe and attractive to tourists.
b. Restart of joint advertising campaigns with large tour operators and airline companies.
c. Boosting of advertising campaigns and of joint ad campaigns already running in 18 countries abroad, including for off-season travel to Greece.
d. Continuing exchange of information among GNTO and its branches abroad, the North Aegean Region, local agencies and private businesses to promote the image of the island abroad through on the media.
e. Long-term planning for the island of Rhodes to reverse a negative climate and to promote a sustainability model that could be applied elsewhere in the Mediterranean as well.
Meanwhile, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou has sent letters thanking the leaders of all the countries that assisted Greece in fighting the recent wildires, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
Firefighting forces from France, Italy, Croatia, Cyprus, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, USA, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Malta, Lebanon and Serbia assisted Greece with aircraft and ground forces.
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