The wildfires in certain areas of Rhodes, Corfu and Evia have been very difficult and upsetting for the local people and holidaymakers affected. We have been working closely with our members, the UK and Greek authorities as well as other stakeholders to support the crisis response.  

We are supporting members by providing regular operational updates with the latest information available on what is happening in destinations, information from UK and Greek authorities, as well as how members and the industry are responding.  

We’ve also convened a series of conference calls, bringing together members, FCDO, and the Greek National Tourist Office, to discuss situational updates, share insights and other operational intelligence.  

ABTA spokespeople have given 38 interviews on the wildfires, which have been syndicated hundreds of times across local and national radio stations (see this week’s media highlights for more details). 

Through our media engagement we’ve sought to provide clarification on what is happening and what it means for customers, explaining their rights and how package holidays customers have greater protection in these circumstances. Our spokespeople also stressed how hard ABTA members are working to support their customers affected by the wildfires.  

As part of our communications approach, we have published two advice pages on abta.com to provide advice directly to customers - Rhodes wildfires and Corfu wildfires.  These were also shared across social media.

Finally in these difficult times I would like to extend our thanks to the Greek authorities for all their efforts in arranging evacuations so swiftly and the ongoing brave work of their fire-fighting teams. The hospitality and help offered by local people reflects their natural compassion and the strong relationship that exists between our two countries. 

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive