Dutch Tourists Arrive on Rhodes for a Vacation in a ‘Bubble’

Photo source: Mitsis Hotels

The Greek island of Rhodes on Monday welcomed its first tourists as part of the “Safe Corridor” pilot holiday program by Dutch tour operator Sunweb Group.

Carried out in cooperation with Transavia and with the approval of the Dutch and Greek governments, the “Safe Corridor” program sees a total of 187 travelers from the Netherlands staying for eight nights at a 5-star all-inclusive beach hotel on the island.

According to Sunweb, the pilot aims to gain new (behavioural) insights and collect data on the conditions under which people can go on holiday safely and responsibly during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

A vacation in a holiday bubble

Photo source: Mitsis Hotels

While on the island, the Dutch tourists will enjoy their holiday in a “bubble” at the Mitsis Grand Hotel. They will not be allowed to leave the hotel at any time for the duration of their holiday, but can use all of the hotel’s faclilities including the swimming pools and the restaurants.

The Mitsis Grand Hotel will be open exclusively to Sunweb and Transavia holidaymakers, meaning there will be no other guests present besides the hotel staff.

One day before the arrival of its guests, the Mitsis Grand Hotel made the following post on its Facebook page: “We are proud and ready to welcome to Mitsis Grand Hotel all-tested environment our 187 selected guests from #SafeCorridor, the pilot holiday programme, that aims to safely restart international tourism.”

Rules

In order to travel to Greece the program’s participants had to present a negative PCR test upon departure from the Netherlands.

During the eight-day pilot holiday program, all tourists must take daily rapid tests and follow the hotel’s Covid-19 health and safety measures.

When they return to the Netherlands, all travelers will have to self isolate for ten days.

When Sunweb Group first announced the program, some 25,000 people signed up and 187 were later selected by age group. People with high-risk conditions were excluded.