Trade strives to reassure customers over European wildfires

Agents and operators have been reassuring and advising holidaymakers amid concerns that raging wildfires in southern Europe could spread to mainstream tourist destinations.

Thousands of people have been evacuated in Greece, Turkey and Italy as a result of the fires, which follow a severe heatwave linked to climate change in a week when the United Nations published a landmark study on the issue.

Fires have destroyed thousands of hectares on Evia, an island northeast of Athens, and follow a series of fires in Turkey, on the UK’s red list, where tourists in the Marmaris region and hotels in Bodrum were evacuated.

So far, the trade said the fires had not stopped clients from booking, but Travel Counsellors UK managing director and chief commercial officer Kirsten Hughes said media coverage may affect clients’ destination choices.

“Situations such as these are dynamic and change quickly,” she said. “Now more than ever, it is important customers book their trip with a trusted travel advisor.”
Premier Travel director Paul Waters said clients had contacted branches about the situation. “It’s mainly people booked to go to Greece to understand if it might impact their holiday,” he said.

Advantage Travel Partnership leisure director Kelly Cookes said: “We have been able to share updates from people in the different resorts, which has helped to get the correct information. It doesn’t seem to have deterred people from booking.”

Specialist operator Sunvil said it was “keeping a close eye on developments”. Managing director Chris Wright said: “We are certainly getting questions but mainly it’s people wanting reassurance that the areas they are planning to travel to haven’t been affected.”

He added: “The situation in Evia is devastating and we are joining calls to support those affected. But in the areas we feature, we haven’t been affected by any fires.”
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report blames human activities for changing the climate and warns of increasing extreme heatwaves, droughts and floods.