Until November 15, there will be tourists in Rhodes

“Until November 15, there will be tourists in the hotels of Rhodes, and in fact some of them will be very full,” declared Thanasis Vyrinis, the municipal councilor responsible for tourism, to APE-MPE, who expressed his satisfaction with the evolution of the tourist season, which has broken every record, even that of the 2019 season, which until now was the best season of Rhodian tourism.

Already the local agencies and actors have focused their interest on being able to attract tourists during the winter season as well, mainly pensioners from the countries of Northern Europe and in this direction the first meetings have been held, while there is also an open line with the Ministry of Tourism .

“We are particularly satisfied with this year’s tourist season, which is developing impressively,” says Mr. Vyrinis, who is coordinating the efforts of the Rhodes municipality to achieve better results. As Mr. Vyrinis emphasizes, these days tourist arrivals on the island of Rhodes have exceeded a total of 1,800,000 people. The goal is for the number of tourists to reach 2,300,000 people by the end of the year, a fact that is now considered feasible, since the following months will also be particularly dynamic in the number of arrivals.

It is even expected, according to the estimates of Mr. Vyrinis, as well as factors of the tourism market, that in the next period of time the tourist traffic will have better quality characteristics, since older tourists, with greater purchasing power, have planned vacations.

The first meetings have already been held in Rhodes regarding the winter accommodation program for pensioners and tangible results are expected in the coming weeks.

According to what has become known, approximately 20 hotels with around 5,000 beds will remain open in the winter in Rhodes and will be available to host European retirees who will want to leave their homeland to… spend the winter in Greece.

These are member hotels of the Rhodes Hotel Association, the majority of which operate every winter on the island, and which responded to the relevant request of the Ministry of Tourism, which is examining the possibilities of creating a program to host European retirees in Greek destinations.

Among them is Rhodes, which has the ability to accommodate a certain number of elderly people, who will decide to spend their winter or at least part of it in Greece, due to the high energy costs in their homelands.

They are small and large hotel units located in the city of Rhodes and in the area of ​​Ixia.

At the same time, restaurants have also declared that they will remain open in the winter, underlining that this year the Ministry of Tourism is trying to organize a program to host European pensioners in Greece, for the months of November and December, due to the energy crisis in Europe which will particularly affect individuals third age.

Already according to what has become known, some restaurateurs of the island have expressed interest in participating and keeping their shops open these two months. A first list has already been given to the Chamber of Dodecanese, so that it can be forwarded wherever requested.

In fact, the president of the Dodecanese chamber, Ioannis Pappou, in statements to the local media, confirmed the actions being taken at this level, saying that serious efforts are being made to have a very specific category of visitors even in the winter months, and that there is therefore a continuous communication with the Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilia.

“In collaboration with other collective bodies we are discussing to give a complete picture of which professionals, i.e. restaurants and hotels, will be open in the winter months, to give the right information to the foreign markets in order to bring this category of visitors in the next period .

It is something that is being done for the first time in such an organized manner in Greece. We’ve tried this before, but this time it won’t be just for Rhodes. It is coordinated for the entire country,” he said.

Source: AMPE