Rhodes Fires: 84% of Island’s Hotels Unaffected
Eighty-four percent of the hotels on Rhodes and 81 percent of available rooms were not affected by the fire that ravaged the Greek island in July forcing tourist and resident evacuations and emergency measures, found a study carried out by GBR Consulting.
According to the findings, the fires that burned for 10 consecutive days on Rhodes last month destroyed 14.5 percent of the island’s total surface or 203km2 of land impacting local communities and tourism industry.
According to the study, which examines the devastating fires in Greece over the last 23 years, the hotels impacted the most were those located on the northeastern and western part of Rhodes, near the airport.
Most severely impacted were the villages of Kiotari, Plimmiri, Lardos, Lindos, Pefki and Vlycha, where the largest evacuation operation in Greece was carried out.
In total, 84 hotels with a capacity of 9,500 rooms suffered some form of damage accounting for 16 percent of the island’s total number of hotels and 19 percent of total hotel room occupancy. Additionally, some 19,000 people, mainly tourists were evacuated: 16,000 by land and 3,000 by sea. The fire impact on Rhodes included mass flight and room cancelations.
Assessing the data, GBR analysts underlines the importance of environmental protection particularly for a country that relies on tourism as a main source of revenue.
Among others it stresses the importance of developing of a fire prevention and management plan that focuses on prevention, education and public awareness, enforcement of fire safety regulations, risk assessment and mapping, fire detection technology, immediate response, investment in firefighting means, and formulation of evacuation plans and routes.
“Climate change is no excuse for not developing a comprehensive fire management strategy. Addressing climate change and its impacts is critical to mitigating the risk of wildfires,” said the report.