Lisa and Jo nobody is doubting what a horrific experience you and many others had along with local people and their children. What they are are saying is its okay now for tourists to return, the people saying it are'nt lying for their own gain and want to reassure people that have booked to come that all is okay. The tour companies are also saying its okay.

As for the comment its all about the money. My friend works 7 days a week from May to Oct to get her family through the winter when there is no money, its a hard life. Please have a thought for them. Life must go on and without tourism the village will die along with the forest.

you did not answer me where are you in this moment.
to replay to your humanity concern , i work all year yust to go for 10 days and among all beatufull places in the world my family had chosen this one.plese keep your coments for yourself becouse for my money i'd like to know what will i get.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Biba you are quite right in what you say. You have one holiday a year after working 12 months/year here and you want it to be right and safe.

we went to hanioti on the monday morn n on the night was the fire on the tuesday evening we all got moved to thessoloniki and last nite we came back to england every tour operator is tryin to get people out

How crazy is that and still flying people in though I have heard there are 5 hour delays for them.

I came back from the beautiful Hanioti about 4 weeks ago and am devastated for all involved about the fires.
I stayed at Hilltop Hotel, which is across the main road and up through forest. I am really worried about the owners and employees there.

Does anyone know whether it was affected?

thanks
Helen

Just so you know angie I'm not sat at home in England but I am in Halkidiki and was on fire watch all night during the fires so I think that I am in a position to make a comment.
The tour operators did the right thing in getting the tourist out as a safety precaution but now the fire is out they are bringing them back.
How long do you think it is dangerous once the fire is out.There was minimal damage to the towns so of course things are back to normal now as all the villagers put in a big effort to clean up the ash.The smoke has gone the air is clean the sun is shinning what more do you want.
It is safe and back to normal except of course for the burnt areas of forest that sadly will take years to regrow.
So please don't belittle the locals that live and work in the area by saying that it is all to do with money.They take great pride in their towns and would not be here if they were in danger

we stayed at the Halkidki Palace and was taken to Thessolonki on Tuesday night is this the same hotel as the hill top hotel that you asked about if so the owner and family are fine but a little distressed. The hotel was fine just smoke damage and the surrounding woodland burnt down. We went there on Monday and we are now back at home we didn,t want to come home as we were on a two week holiday and now it is over. We asked for a different resort if they couldnt send us back to our hotel but was informed that they had been informed that for our safety we all had to leave Halkidki. It is distressing to now find out that they are sending people there when we had to go home. We send our love and hope that the tourist trade will be restored for the local people as quickly as possible. It was a very distressing night for alot of people locals and tourists and I dont think people should forget that, having to run for safety and sleep on the beach is not something that I would normally due so there was obviously a good reason for me to do this.

Lisa & Angie
Of course money is a concern, it is our livelihood. Thank God we dont make a living from olive trees. Tourists have arrived today and hopefully some of them will post messages on this forum. All that I am doing is telling it how it is. Lisa, if you haven't already booked/cancelled then as far as my post is concerned, you can take it or leave it. We will get through this difficult period.
Leigh