I had genuinely expected to see the damage from the air, but there is nothing visible – and you must drive around 45 minutes south from the airport to witness any evidence of last month’s wildfires.
If you hire a car and venture into the mountainous central areas of Rhodes where the fires started, blackened tree trunks border some roads for a few kilometres.
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And where the landscape unrolls, the brown leaves of charred pines resemble a British autumn. The wider vista is, though, still overwhelmingly green thanks to the bravery of the island’s firefighters and locals.
At sea level, the vegetation is naturally sparser, so damage is sporadic – one minute the roadside is blackened, a few hundred metres later there is greenery again.
At one hotel, I was shown shocking video footage of the advancing fires; on this occasion, only a road acting as firebreak – plus swift action from emergency services and in many cases, hotel staff – prevented them from spreading.
It was all the more unsettling because the video was sent to the hotel by a grateful client. It started with excited children boarding their flight and continued with them playing in the pool, but cut to apocalyptic scenes of a crimson, spitting inferno only metres from their room, plus more shots of their evacuation. The footage ended with a moving message of gratitude for the hotel staff and a promise to return next year.
Defiance
While the Rhodians, and the UK travel industry, rose to the challenge magnificently, the effects on tourist businesses in high season cannot be underestimated – Tui alone spent €25 million on the evacuation and repatriation effort, but many locals suffered a serious dip in their livelihoods with no big company backing as their safety net.
Things are nearly normal now – almost all of the eight or so hotels I visited boasted 90-100% occupancy, with the lowest running at around 70%. Having achieved this, property owners are asking how they can replant and help the wildlife – including native deer that saw some of their habitat destroyed.
One image that will remain with me is the burnt out shell of a taverna, the Angelaki, near my hotel (above). The third generation family who ran it grew their own fresh produce in its backyard, but that too was destroyed.
A crowdfunding campaign is under way via Instagram to get them back on their feet but meanwhile, the Greek flag flies defiantly from the remains of the building.
The wildfires have knocked them for six, but having seen how tough – and generous – the islanders are, I’d put money on them being back in time for next year.
Gary Noakes is TTG’s senior contributor and analyst. He travelled to Rhodes with Tui to learn how the island is bouncing back from the July wildfires.
