Tour operator TUI Belgium is cancelling all package holidays to the Greek island of Rhodes, which is ravaged by forest fires, until Friday as it cannot provide the service that passengers expect, the company announced on Monday.
Customers will be offered alternative holidays if they wish. It is still unclear when hotels in the south of the island will reopen.
"Water and electricity supplies on the island are not constant and a number of roads are closed as the fires have not yet been brought under control," the tour operator said. "Given this uncertain situation, TUI is unable to provide the service travellers expect."
The majority of holidaymakers travelling with TUI Belgium are staying in the north of the island, where hotels are still open, the tour operator said. TUI is monitoring the situation closely and will individually inform affected travellers. Additionally, flights operated by TUI Fly will continue to operate on the scheduled dates to bring holidaymakers back to Belgium.
As reported previously, Belgium's Foreign Affairs ministry advises travellers to "carefully follow the instructions of the local authorities" and to beware of new forest fires that might start in the persistent heat.
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"Rhodes is currently ravaged by intense forest fires in the south of the island and more specifically on the coast between Lindos and Kiotari. There are also forest fires on the island of Corfu," the statement read.
The "unpredictability of forest fires" and the movement of thousands of tourists to available hotels on the island as a result of evacuations are reducing the accommodation capacity of some hotels, the authorities added. "Before your departure, contact your tour operator or travel agency for further information about your stay in Rhodes or Corfu."
More than 266 firefighters are working to contain the fire in the south and west of the island in the Aegean Sea, where during the weekend 30,000 tourists were evacuated in "the biggest operation" of its kind "ever carried out in Greece."
