PMI sponsors world’s first ‘smoke free island’
Saturday, October 26, 2019 at 7:18 
An article on the Crowded Planet website dated June 2016 paints an idyllic picture of life on a small island in the middle of the Aegean sea.
An hour by plane from Athens, or eleven hours by ferry, Astypalea ‘is far removed from the well-trodden tourist trails around the Greek islands’.
According to the author (who was invited to the island as part of a media trip organised by the municipality of Astypalea):
Orthodox Easter is a wonderful time to explore Greece – the weather is warm, tourists haven’t yet arrived and locals are happy to welcome visitors to join the celebrations. This year, we were lucky to spend Orthodox Easter on a Greek island, Astypalea, a remote and unspoilt piece of heaven.
In the streets, in the courtyards, behind of the walls of their homes, people got ready for the big day. And as night fell, it looked as if the whole island had descended to the two small churches – St. Nicholas, not far from Astypalea’s old port, and Panagia Portaitissa, where I stood, lost in the crowd.
And then – Christos Anesti. Lights, fireworks, raki. Music, cigarette smoke. Food. Plates coming out of the kitchen, one after another. Grilled sausages. Chips specked with oregano. Salty taramasalata. Garlicky tzatziki. Two a.m. and we were still at the table. A small club – Greek pop music, cigarette smoke, beer.
Note the reference to ‘cigarette smoke’ - not once but twice and not in a bad way. It’s significant because, on October 3, 2019, the tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) chose to celebrate the fact that Astypalea had become ‘the first Smoke-Free Culture certified island in the world’ (whatever that means).
The island received the Smoke-Free Culture certification from TUV Austria, a leading independent certification organization, recognizing their commitment to reduce cigarette smoking by implementing and continuously improving a set of actions that encourage quitting, which remains the best option for smokers’ health, or switching to better alternatives if they do not quit.
“We are proud to support this initiative and congratulate Astypalea on their efforts. We hope that other destinations around the world will follow their example by embracing a smoke-free culture,” said Frederic de Wilde, President European Union Region at PMI.
Like most people, I’d never heard of Astypalea before PMI’s announcement so I immediately searched online. In addition to the Crowded Planet article - which was presumably part of an attempt to promote the island to potential tourists - this is what I found.
According to the last census in 2011, the island has a population of just 1,334 residents. Compare that with some other Greek islands:
Crete, 623,000
Corfu, 102,000
Kos, 31,000
Santorini, 15,550
Or these UK islands:
Isle of Wight, 141,500
Isle of Man, 90,000
Isle of Skye, 10,000
Isle of Arran, 4,500
Isles of Scilly, 2,300
In other words, the population of Astypalea is tiny. It is, literally, a little drop in the ocean.
In population terms, the UK equivalent might be Barra, an island in the Outer Hebrides. Despite this, PMI saw fit to trumpet Astypelea’s smoke free ‘certification’ in a series of press releases, website posts and videos.
After a bit more digging I found that Astypalea’s plan to become the first Greek island to go ‘smoke free’ was announced a year ago (October 2018) as part of an attempt to rebrand the island as a ‘wellness destination’.
I don’t know how I missed it at the time but I discovered that:
The initiative comes within its newly launched tourism campaign titled “Astypalea: Τhe Aegean Energy Spring” and is organized by the Astypalea Municipality in collaboration with the South Aegean Region, with the support of the Papastratos company.
Another report described Papastratos as the ‘sponsor of the project’. So who are they?
It won’t come as a surprise to readers of this blog if I tell you that Papastratos is a Greek tobacco company owned by ... Philip Morris International.
And the concept of ‘Smoke-Free Destinations’ was introduced not by Tobacco Control, as you might expect, but by ... Philip Morris International.
As I said, Astypelea is a tiny island with no more residents than the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides. But the importance of this project should not be underestimated.
In 2001 a tobacco company executive dismissed my fears that a smoking ban in Ireland might have serious consequences for the UK. He told me (and I paraphrase), “Ireland is a small market. In the overall scheme of things it has very little influence.”
That’s not how it turned out, is it? The smoking ban in Ireland influenced the Scottish Government to follow suit, and that led to similar legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
I’m guessing that PMI chose Astypelea as part of its ‘Smoke-Free Destinations’ project for the very reason that it is so small. This is all about building momentum and promoting PMI’s commitment to a ‘smoke free’ future.
The good news is that, at the end of a week-long holiday in Corfu, a much larger Greek island, I can tell you that even in our ‘no smoking’ resort it is no problem if you want to smoke on the many balconies and terraces, all of them well sheltered from poor weather (not that we’ve had any).
In truth, I’ve seen very few people smoking, but I think that’s because most guests are British, or are here with young families. Despite that, ashtrays are everywhere if you want to light up. The same is true of every cafe we visited outside the resort.
Smoke free culture? Not here, that’s for sure.
Even on Astypelea, ‘the first Smoke-Free Culture certified island in the world’, smoking is not yet an offence.
The campaign will not policed, but it will rely on the good-will of residents and tourists alike, says Mayor of Astypalea Panormitis Kontaratos.
“We prefer to rely on everyone’s philotimo and not on the implementation of police measures. After all, the latter have not brought any significant results in Greece. All our efforts will focus on information and awareness,” says Kontaratos.
That’s something, I suppose. Meanwhile, expect further announcements from PMI regarding its Smoke-Free Destinations project. I’ll keep you posted.
Update: Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute, takes issue with PMI’s claim that Astypalea is the world’s first smoke free island. He tweets:
Maybe the second. Holy Isle near Arran is owned by Buddhist monks and they don’t allow tobacco, alcohol or drugs. Or vapes I guess.
Ah, but have they been awarded a Smoke-Free Culture certification? I’m guessing not.
Good point, though. Anyone else know of any more ‘smoke free’ islands?
Reader Comments (5)
With such a tiny population, the even smaller number of smokers must be tremendously harrassed on that bully island in Greece. Not for me thanks. The world is a very big place and I don't intend to spend any of my time or hard earned cash at a holiday destination in the pocket of Big Tobacco 😂
Simon, if you go a bit down-market on your holidays, you will see plenty of smokers. I am always surprised at how many hang out of cheap hotel windows like I do.
This ‘smoke free’ destination scam is exemplary of totalitarian overreach. It is clear that PMI has been captured by tobacco control activists. The persecution of smokers must end.
Hmm, I hope none of those Western Isles where the 'Wee Frees' hold sway pick up on this! They're bad enough over things like chaining up park swings and banning the ferry to the 'mainland' on the Sabbath.
Such miserablists would just love another opportunity to ban something in case someone might be enjoying themselves.
PMI’s trying to jump into bed with the anti-smokers is nothing more than a cynical business tactic to try and muscle to the top spot in what they see as the emerging market of e-cigarettes, with the aim of having their IQOS device sitting firmly at the top of it, and I’m surprised that the anti-smoking brigade haven’t sussed this out yet. I know that where anti-smoking is concerned, money talks, and also that State funding for anti-smoking initiatives are dropping – law of diminishing returns and all that – so in that respect I can see why the anti-smokers have decided to “get behind” such initiatives as these, even when funded by “the enemy,” but with anti-smokers across the pond and elsewhere in the world sometimes now dealing even more harshly with vapers than they do with smokers, and with anti-smoking groups themselves only ever seeing e-cigarettes as a “quitting device” rather than, as PMI and other e-cig manufacturers clearly see them, as an ongoing “alternative” to smoking (with, presumably, no foreseen end to people’s use of their devices), then one wonders who will be the first of this unholy alliance – PMI or the anti-smokers – to “break ranks.”
Will it be the anti-smokers who, disappointed that people are clearly not just using e-cigs to give up smoking but who intend to continue with it ad infinitum, will turn and simply direct the same old hysterical health claims (including “passive vaping,” natch) against the “wicked e-cig sellers” – which will, of course, include PMI.
Or will it be PMI who, realising that the antis are merely using their (PMI’s) cash and resources to fight their (anti-smoking’s) battles for them, even as they continue to stubbornly refuse to accept e-cigarettes as a permissible ongoing market, will withdraw their cash from anti-smoking initiatives like these, in the realisation that from the point of view of their New Best Friends, that New Best Friendship was only ever meant to be a short-term, temporary means to an end? Including the end of devices just like PMI’s beloved IQOS which brought them together in the first place.
Much, I suspect, will depend on vapers themselves. Why they take it up and whether they then continue or stop. I know vapers on both sides, so it’s hard to estimate how many are just using their e-cigarettes as a relatively painless way of giving up cigarettes (just this week I heard of a colleague who had now “given up vaping, too”), and how many are using them as a less harmful alternative but don’t have any intention of stopping (like a neighbour of mine who has now been vaping for five years). Or indeed how many are using them as an occasional handy substitute for real smoking when real smoking is genuinely difficult to do for extended periods, but who still prefer to smoke real cigarettes when they can (the often-overlooked “dual users”). And of course, it also depends on how many more people try vaping (or IQOS-ing), decide it’s not all it’s cracked up to be and go back to smoking. I know a hell of a lot of those, too - another often-overlooked group who could actually have quite a big influence on how long this cosy arrangement goes on, and how long it stays cosy for.
I watch with interest, but one thing’s for sure. This is a friendship forged on thin and rather wobbly ice and it’s likely to end in tears for someone. The question now is – whose tears will it be? PMI’s or anti-smoking’s? I have to say that it’s rather refreshing to me, as a smoker, for the first time in many years to be able to look in on a smoking-related “situation” from the outside in a dispassionate way, in the warm knowledge that whoever’s tears it is, neither of them is any friend of mine!
The biggest overlooked group Misty is the group of smokers who enjoy smoking and have no intention of quitting or switching. If vapers want to win their battle, they need to join smokers and begin by boycotting PMI's iQuos. Will they? Doubtful. Most people are in the "I'm alright Jack so fcuk you" camp which is why the smokerphobics will come after vapers once they've finished with us.If they think they're being persecuted now, they ain't seen nothing yet but of course we smokers have seen and felt it it all before and more.