Leaders in the European Union (EU) Tourism Sector will gather on the island of Rhodes today and tomorrow to discuss the impact of climate change on the sector, which will culminate in the signing of a document expressing private sector commitments as well requests of EU leadership.

The meeting is an initiative of HOTREC and is being co-organized by the South Aegean Region and is the first pan-European level meeting of this kind, according to the press release.

HOTREC, which is presided over by Alexandros Vasilikos, chose Rhodes for symbolic reasons following the devastating fires on the island which led to the evacuation of over 20,000 tourists at the end of July 2023.

The meeting will be attended by many private sector organizations which will sign the “Declaration of Rhodes” and a dinner will be held in the presence of the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The organizers of the meeting hope that the Declaration of Rhodes will encourage leaders of European Institutions to formulate policies and provide tools to respond to the challenges of climate change.