Dear friends,
A couple of past months have been a stressful & uncertain time for all of us. Our lives changed dramatically with no clear and predictable future. Unfortunately, the tourism industry is one of the hardest hit in this crisis. Our hearts break reading all the emails and messages from our friends & customers unwillingly canceling or postponing their vacations and tours. Who would have ever believed that the entire world could shut down?
Like most, we closely monitor the COVID-19 situation, and it is our civic responsibility to respond accordingly by obeying and following the directives given by our state and local officials. To curb this crisis, we all must contribute and sacrifice our own personal benefits, and put our local and global community first for as long as it takes to stay healthy and safe.
We also want to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to all the “front-line” workers across all the industries, who are required to do their jobs despite great risks to their own health. Thank you for your dedication.
It is already a fact that nothing will be the same again. The impacts and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on our lives and our local & global societies will be colossal, yet nobody can predict what will happen when the situation eventually stabilizes. However, we continue working to be able to support our team of people who have been left without work and our many supportive partners & cooperators. Thank you for all your support through your reviews, likes, shares, comments, so we can recover and emerge even stronger on the other side!
We can say with great relief and pride that the situation on Rhodes island is secure. Up to date, there were only 4 cases, no deaths, and no suspected cases of Covid-19. This favorable outcome is due to operative nationwide lockdown restrictions promptly imposed by the Greek government, which were especially crucial for the islands. There were no “ifs ands or buts” about it, as everyone is fully aware that the island’s economy is almost entirely reliant on tourism. People in Rhodes have devotedly followed the rules in hopes that this would help to revive the tourism flow during the upcoming summer. Wherever you gaze, all you can see is empty streets, closed cafeterias, deserted beaches, bare shop windows, an unprecedented scenery. But we all understand that solidarity in self-discipline and sacrifices will give us better results in the future.
According to the Greek Reporter, Rhodes is one of the 8 Greek islands that are distinguished as possible destinations to visit after the coronavirus lockdown ends. News like this gives us all hope and strength to keep being patient and inspired to adapt to the new circumstances. We believe that Rhodes will promptly acclimate to the new conditions and take all the necessary measures to be able to accept travelers longing for a safe and relaxing holiday.
Our core values are commitment and dedication to our customers, our team, our cooperators & partners, and this is what will continue driving us forward through this trying time. Realizing that we are dependent on circumstances that we can not control or influence, we are forced to make difficult decisions. Unfortunately, some of the tours will not operate in Summer 2020. We will keep only the most popular destinations and excursions. Our focus will be shifted on providing less but even higher quality services following all the safety conditions. No doubt, there will be strict limits on the number of passengers allowed per vehicle. Let’s not forget that all the services are interdependent, so we will have to be very mindful of what is going to be offered. We are still on hold and waiting for the latest updates from the government to make our final decisions. Hopefully, the recovery period is going to unfold successfully, and we can start looking forward to our first tourists, probably in July (as you can tell, we are optimists!).
Meanwhile, we are already opening our Summer 2021 tour program. Soon, all the tours will be available for booking through our real-time Tour Booking System. We can’t wait to see you all once things have settled down, if it is not this year, hopefully, next year!
What are we doing? Well, with more free time on our hands, we needed to adapt to this unusual state of matters. Just like for everyone on Rhodes, springtime should be the busiest time of the season with all the necessary preparations for the summer. Currently, all our vehicles are parked tire to tire, waiting for the moment they can hit the roads again. We continue working to entirely service all the coaches and keep our fleet in the best shape performing regular maintenance tasks. We have contracted a company that will cleanse and disinfect all the coaches regularly so that our customers can feel confident when touring with us.
Besides the technical part, we keep ourselves busy updating the website with new content, photos, and articles for our Rhodes Guide. We decided not to waste this time and get creative about it! Thinking about our customers’ needs, we have started to prepare new materials that would be useful for travelers. Our latest one is on Symi Island – a map with directions, suggestions, “to-do’s” & “must-see’s.” We will be super excited to handle them to all our customers visiting this beautiful island!
Oh, yes, we have been face-timing with our relatives & friends, coach-traveling, cooking, and walking along Ixia bay to keep ourselves in good shape (physically & mentally). But most of all, we are hopeful that soon this will be a distant memory, and we’ll be GOING RHODES together again.
Dear friends, thank you for reading, for your compassion and support during these challenging times. Let us know, how you are doing! We wish you to stay safe and healthy!
With Love, Manos & Gunta
