With lavish advertising, a flurry of vaccines across the islands, and the lifting of quarantine requirements, Greece wants to get tourists to pack their bags and forget about the pandemic. But there are still few sun loungers on Rhodes.

“It's as if we have been struck by a curse,” says Deputy Mayor Konstantinos Taraslias.

So far, the season has not taken off. Bookings for June are poor, with only 50 of Rhodes' 600 hotels open and most charter planes half empty.

There is great uncertainty on the island, where most things revolve around tourism.

– It's a lot of stress, says Taraslias.

– First we had the economic crisis. And now this. It's like a curse.

Source: TT