26 July 2023
ABTA’s destinations and communication teams have been providing crisis response support and assistance since the afternoon of Saturday 22 July, responding to the wildfires in Greece which have affected some tourist areas.
ABTA have been working closely with our members, the UK and Greek authorities as well as other stakeholders to support the response to the wildfires. ABTA’s crisis response support is a vital service we provide for members and is highly valued.
Activities have included:
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- Regular operational updates to members (called operational bulletins). They have provided the latest information on what is happening in destinations, information from UK and Greek authorities, as well as other relevant stakeholders and information on how members and the industry are responding. They have also included advice to members on any actions that may be required or for consideration, as well as advice to share with customers.
- 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. As the situation evolves ABTA will facilitate further calls to with members so that they can share information and insights on their assessments on infrastructure (local resorts, road networks, tourism accommodation and other associated facilities etc).
- Responding to a high number of media requests for comment and broadcast interviews and providing proactive statements on developments. Through the media engagement, ABTA 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. They have stressed to the media that ABTA members are working hard to support their customers affected by the wildfires, and that the health and safety of customers is the number one priority. ABTA have provided clarity on the geographical areas affected by the fires, making it clear that not all resorts on the island are affected. They have also clarified that the situations in Corfu and Rhodes are very different, stressing that in both cases people can still holiday on the islands.
- ABTA spokespeople have given more than 30 interviews which have been syndicated hundreds of times across local and national BBC radio stations and commercial radio stations. Interviews have included BBC Breakfast, multiple appearances on BBC News, ITV News, Sky News, Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News, national BBC radio programmes including Radio 4’s You & Yours and PM programme, Radio 5’s live, plus dozens of local BBC radio stations.
- Two advice pages have been published on abta.com to provide advice direct to customers and have been shared across social media. These are https://www.abta.com/
rhodeswildfires and https://www.abta.com/ corfuwildfire.
- Members also have access to ABTA’s legal and membership support teams, who are on hand to provide any advice around their responsibilities or other related matters.
