Forest fires in Rhodes and Corfu
Greece vacationers need to know that now
Numerous forest fires are currently raging on Rhodes and other parts of Greece.
© imago/ZUMA Wire
Forest fires are raging in Rhodes, Corfu and other parts of Greece. What does this mean for holidaymakers?
Massive outbreaks are currently raging on the holiday islands of Rhodes and Corfu after the heat wave Forest fires. Large-scale fires have also broken out in other holiday regions in Greece. Thousands of vacationers were evacuated. The tour operator TUI announced at the weekend that it would no longer operate tourist flights to Rhodes. But what does that mean in concrete terms for the individual holidaymaker?
As published by the ADAC on its website, package holidaymakers in particular can breathe a sigh of relief. As a rule, you are left with no costs. According to the legal experts, they can cancel their trip free of charge if “so-called unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances occur at the holiday destination or in its immediate vicinity that significantly affect the trip”.
It goes on to say that the circumstances described can also be forest fires if the booked trip is “concretely or at least sufficiently likely to be affected by these fires or the consequences, such as smoke in the air”. However, vacationers can only refer to it if the trip is imminent and they are supposed to go to a region that is directly affected by the forest fires.
What applies to individual travelers?
The sheer fear of forest fires or above-average heat alone is usually not enough to cancel a trip free of charge. Here one is dependent on the goodwill of the organizer and should seek dialogue. If the fires occur while you are already on vacation, the contract can also be terminated under certain conditions. Here too, however, one must prove for a return journey that the journey was significantly affected by extraordinary circumstances.
For individual travelers, however, it is much more difficult to cancel a trip due to a natural disaster. In principle, as long as the trip can theoretically be started, it must be started. For example, if the booked plane flies to the region, there are no special cancellation options.
The same applies to reserved accommodation. Only if the booked service cannot actually be provided – for example due to a flight cancellation or access to the accommodation has become impossible – does the holiday maker not have to pay. Otherwise, the traveler must hope for goodwill from the provider or look at the contract conditions to see whether an individual right of withdrawal has not been agreed.