The Rhodes fire that started the 18 July have hit the Greece tourism hard. Ten of thousands of tourist was evacuated from their hotels. And at no surprise many of them found that it was impossible to get a new hotel room because of the high season.
And I’m almost sure that the affected tourists will see Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis word “that it caused some inconvenience for visitors” as the understatement of the year. With 15% blasted by the Rhodes fire I’m sure that many locals agree with them. Media outside Greece have mainly focused on the tourist the real tragedy is somewhere else. For a destroyed vacation is nothing compared to see your life succumb to the fire.
So what can we do to support them?
The easy and in my opinion correct answer is to continue to travel to Rhodes. The reason is several! First Rhodes are still a fantastic destination with green hills and alleys combined with golden beaches. With 85% not affected by the Rhodes fire there is a great chance to find some great place to rest. Secondly I believe that traveling is a great way to support local communities. By traveling we make money flow into the local community. The more local you stay, eat and shop the better it is. A great side effect is that you will get an opportunity to get new friends, learn about their culture and maybe even some Greek words. The third reason is maybe more abstract. But I do think that we as Europeans have an duty to support and help each other. Jeremy Rifkin calls this the European dream. But the mutual help and welfare building is not only between state – citizen. It most also be between states and citizens – citizens if the mutual trust and aid will survive. And with the Rhodes fire we can at a multilevel show that our European dream is alive.
A free vacation, a surprising outcome of the Rhodes fire.
On the other hand, no one want to help those who don’t make their best to get back. By that reason Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promise to give a free week vacation to those who was effected by the Rhodes fire.
I think this idea is a fantastic way to help the Rhodes back on track. One week of vacation to the spring or next autumn is a really good compensation. Not only for the tourist, but also to the local business owners who maybe can extend their tourist season and gain some extra income. And they will need it after the Rhodes fire for sure.
At the same time it will save you money! You can choose to save them. But that sounds really boring so spend them at Rhodes or book a business ticket to your self down to Rhodes.
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