A beautiful Greek island is so eager for British tourists that they’re offering free holidays.
Rhodes, which was once overrun with tourists, is now urging visitors to come back after being badly hit by wildfires last year.
As the island continues to recover from the devastating blaze, the Greek government has started to incentivise visitors to return with people who were forced to abandon their holidays to be offered a complimentary week-long stay, courtesy of the state.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek Prime Minister, made the generous offer available for the spring and autumn off-season of 2025, and said it would “make sure they come back to the island and enjoy its natural beauty”.
The idyllic tourist destination was thrown into turmoil last July, with thousands of locals and tourists fleeing what was labelled the largest wildfire in Greece’s recorded history.
Now, all holidaymakers who were on the evacuation lists have been offered an e-voucher to offset the cost of a hotel stay similar to their previous accommodation during the fires.
Depending on the category, tourists could receive between £250 and £420 for their stay.
The Greek government said it is keen to highlight the island’s beauty through the scheme, under which 25,000 impacted holidaymakers will be given the chance to stay at participating hotels.
Tourism forms a central part of Greece’s economy and Rhodes is widely regarded as a jewel in its crown, attracting approximately 2.6 million holidaymakers in 2023 alone.
But the aftermath from last year’s natural disaster highlighted the stark contrasts between regions that profit from tourism and those that do not, igniting conversations on the industry’s sustainability and impact, according to the Liverpool Echo.
Smaller wildfires spread again through the suburbs of Athens earlier this month, though none of the Greek islands popular with tourists have been affected this summer.
The Hellenic Statistical Authority revealed that a fifth of Greece’s accommodation and catering turnover, 18.3 percent, is generated in the Southern Aegean region, with Rhodes alone contributing 6.5 percent to the country’s total.
A staggering £1.19 billion was turned over in the Ionian islands, with Corfu accounting for half of this figure.
In stark contrast, Central Greece, which is 5,000 times larger than the Ionian Islands combined, only managed to generate £326 million.
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