by Growing up in Texas, Mary Beth Walsh thought she was used to high temperatures. Her hometown of Dallas, which is currently being blasted by relentless heat, is prone to heat waves.
But when the 21-year-old visited Athens in mid-June with friends she was shocked by the “unbearable” 98 Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) heat she faced. “I really had no idea about the heat that was going on until we were there, which was quite a surprise,” she told CNN.
“I always joke that I have such a high heat tolerance; I bring my jersey to class in August (in the US),” she said.
But the apartment she was staying in had no air conditioning and the temperature was too high during the day to explore the city on foot. “Our energy levels were lower than we thought they would be,” she said. “It felt quite unbearable to walk in the direct heat.”
Many tourists are now waking up to the sweltering summers of the climate crisis in Europe. Interest in visiting warmer Mediterranean countries has waned in 2023 amid record heatwaves and wildfires, with more temperate destinations becoming more popular, experts say.
Recent heat deaths and disappearances in Greece, including that of British TV personality Michael Mosley, could fuel this move north further, as extreme heat events affect holiday decisions.
The extent to which both the travel industry and tourists can adapt to the rising climate impact is a bigger question for countries in southern Europe, many of which rely on tourism to boost their economies.
Night shift
The climate crisis has brought a lot of attention to the climate crisis due to the recent high temperatures for some holidays in Europe.
“The climate crisis that we fear will happen in 10 or 15 years is already here in some parts of the world. That’s the scary part,” Roo Clark, 28, from Suffolk in eastern England, who is currently staying with his girlfriend on the Greek island of Skyros, told CNN.
“Five years ago, me and my friends wouldn’t have even talked about (climate change), but now it’s a bigger conversation.”
Authorities in Greece have repeatedly warned tourists not to underestimate the intense heat, especially in the middle of the day. Hiking in high temperatures is a common thread linking recent deaths in the country.
Temperatures in Greece are forecast to be between 90 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (low to mid-30s in Celsius) over the next few weeks, a few degrees above the summer average, according to CNN meteorologists, except for a day or two when it rains. It is forecast, which will keep the temperature down.
Stefanos Sidiropoulos, who runs Greece’s largest travel agency specializing in outdoor activities, said tourists should not jump straight into activities. “People coming from northern Europe, or from Canada, places with colder temperatures, it’s more difficult for them. They need time to adapt to these conditions,” he told CNN.
Sidiropoulos’ travel agency, Trekking Hellas, now offers some activities when the temperature is lower, for example during sunrise and sunset times. “Or at night, with torches,” he says.
Placed on the tourism
The impact of climate change on where tourists go on holiday will have serious consequences for some countries dependent on income from travellers.
In Greece, tourism contributes nearly 38 billion euros ($41 billion) – about 20% of the country’s total economy, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
In Italy, where level three heat alerts – the highest warning – were recently issued for the cities of Rome, Perugia and Palermo, tourism accounts for 10% of the country’s economy, according to the latest figures, with one job out of every eight posts linked to. the industry.
After the European summer heat wave of 2023, which saw thousands flee wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes, concern about climate change among European travelers rose by 7%, according to the European Travel Commission (ETC), a non-profit association. responsible for promoting Europe as a travel destination.
This followed a decline in interest in holiday locations in the southern Mediterranean between the summers of 2022 and 2023, with cooler destinations such as the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Denmark becoming more attractive, ETC told CNN.
“Travelers are more aware of extreme weather events and the impact they can have on their vacations,” Eduardo Santander, CEO of ETC, told CNN, adding that this could be a reason for more travelers to visit southern Europe in the spring and late autumn. the hot summer months.
So far, Santander said tourism concerns about climate change tend to be relatively short-lived. “Travelers worry about the summer but often forget about those events when booking their next vacation in the spring,” he said.
‘Riddled with bites’
One effect of climate change affecting major tourist destinations across Europe is extreme heat. But there are others.
Warmer conditions caused by climate change are pushing populations of disease-transmitting mosquitoes into new areas in Europe, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Clark, the tourist who is currently staying on Skyros, said that the number of mosquitoes was very high during the heat wave in early June.
“We were full of bites. There was no wind and even though we sprayed ourselves they still found a way,” Clark told CNN. “It was definitely the low winds and the high temperatures that caused it.”
One main species of mosquito that can spread viruses dengue, chikungunya, and Zika, known Aedes albopictusnow established in many European countries, including Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, according to ECDC.
Andrea Ammon, director of the ECDC, said that travel can contribute to the expansion of the species’ range. “Increased international travel from dengue-endemic countries will also increase the risk of imported cases,” she said in a statement.
Last year, ECDC recorded 130 locally acquired dengue cases in Europe, an increase from 71 cases in 2022.
No locally acquired dengue cases have been reported in Europe so far this summer, ECDC told CNN, but based on previous summer trends they expect the first cases to be reported in the coming weeks.
One human case of indigenously spread West Nile virus infection Culex pipers mosquito, in the Spanish province of Seville in March, according to ECDC. Last year, the organization recorded 713 locally acquired human cases of West Nile virus infection in nine EU countries, resulting in 67 deaths.
Adapting to the ‘new normal’
Last summer’s record high temperatures across the globe were caused by a combination of human-caused climate change and a natural phenomenon, El Niño, which brings back warmer global temperatures.
This combination raised temperatures to record highs in parts of Europe, the world’s hottest continent.
But even as the impact of El Niño diminishes, experts say the long-term trend of global warming will continue. “Climate change is tilting the odds in favor of more extreme events occurring more frequently, and then becoming more severe,” Rebecca Carter, director of climate adaptation and resilience at the World Resources Institute, told CNN.
She added that high numbers of tourists in some regions of Europe were putting pressure on already hard-pressed local authorities, as they grappled with the need to keep residents safe from high heat as well as protect visitors.
Carter said the travel industry needs to consider climate adaptation. “It’s something that I don’t think the travel industry is thinking about as much as it should,” she said, adding that booking rules could be made more flexible for flights and hotels, for example.
“When people plan these trips, it’s weeks or months in advance and you can’t predict when it’s going to be very hot in a particular place.”
Some tourists, such as parents whose children are in school, have less flexibility when deciding travel plans, Carter said. In these circumstances, she said planning was vital: “What would you do if there was a severe heat wave, and the power went out? Can you map out in advance where you would go for help?”
Trekking Hellas’ Sidiropoulos agreed that planning ahead was important, but was keen for visitors to still get out and enjoy the beauty of Greece’s culture and natural world.
“I always tell people who are traveling, ‘don’t stay in your hotel and do the classic things like going to a restaurant,'” he said. “You have a chance to see nature … and see the authentic side of our country.”
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