Leading German tour operators have announced that they are cancelling customers’ bookings to Rhodes due to the ongoing wildfires affecting the Greek island.
TUI Germany issued an announcement informing its customers that it was cancelling all bookings of its travel packages with arrival by July 28 for the entire island and by July 30 for the south of Rhodes.
The tour operator informed that would offer rebookings or cancellations free of charge for all bookings on the entire island up to and including July 30.
TUI had around 39,000 guests on the island of Rhodes, 7,800 of whom were affected by the situation. “They were taken to other locations on the island and are staying in hotels or accommodation designated by the local authorities,” the tour operator said.
The Greek government has opened a Help Desk at Rhodes International Airport to assist the departure of tourists. Photo source: Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.
According to German tourism news digital platform fvw, other leading German tour operators, such as FTI also decided to cancel all bookings to Rhodes up until and including Wednesday, July 26, offering rebookings to other destinations free of charge.
“A low four-digit number of FTI guests were affected by the wildfires but they are all are in good health and out of danger,” an FTI representative told fvw when speaking about the current situation on the island.
“Should our guests wish to depart early, we will examine all options and coordinate unscheduled return flights if necessary,” the representative added.
Rhodes, Greece.
Other German tour operators, according to fvw, that announced cancellations for Rhodes include Alltours, Schauinsland-Reisen (SLR) and DER Touristik.
More specifically, Alltours cancelled bookings to 16 hotels on Rhodes until July 26 and offered rebookings to Crete, Mallorca or the Canary islands. In addition, the operator offered customers with trips to the affected region departing by July 30, the option to cancel or rebook free of charge.
Schauinsland-Reisen (SLR) cancelled bookings to the affected areas of Rhodes with arrival dates until July 28 and offered guests the option to rebook or cancel free of charge.
In addition, DER Touristik cancelled all trips to southern Rhodes up to and including July 29. For all other Rhodes areas the company offered free cancellations and rebookings for arrivals up to and including July 29.
According to reports, the Rhodes wildfires affected some 20,000 German holidaymakers with many of them having already returned to Germany or accommodated in other hotels on Rhodes.
It is reminded that the Greek government has opened a Help Desk at Rhodes International Airport. In cooperation with embassies in Greece, the Help Desk facilitates and coordinates the timely departure of visitors who have lost their travel documents. Press here to access a Q&A for tourists affected by the forest fires on Rhodes.
