CNN —
Growing up in Texas, Mary Beth Walsh thought she was used to high temperatures, and her hometown of Dallas is currently experiencing relentless heat waves every so often.
But the 21-year-old was shocked to find herself in “unbearable” heat of 98 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) while visiting Athens with friends in mid-June. “I was quite surprised because I had no idea how hot it actually was until I got there,” she told CNN.
“I always joke that I can handle the heat so well that I’ll bring a sweatshirt to class in August (in the US),” she said.
But the apartment she was staying in didn’t have air conditioning, and the daytime temperatures were too high to explore the city on foot. “Our energy levels were lower than we’d hoped,” she says. “Walking in the direct sunlight was pretty unbearable.”
The climate crisis is making Europe’s summers scorching hotter, and many tourists are beginning to feel the effects: Experts say record heatwaves and wildfires have led to a decline in interest in traveling to hotter Mediterranean countries in 2023, with warmer destinations becoming more popular.
Recent heatwave deaths and disappearances in Greece, including British TV personality Michael Mosley, may further spur this northward migration, as heatwave events influence holiday decisions.
The extent to which the travel industry and tourists can adapt to increasing climate impacts is becoming a bigger issue for southern European countries that depend on tourism for their economic growth.
Recent increases in temperature have brought the climate crisis into sharp focus for some European tourists.
“The climate crisis that we feared would happen 10 or 15 years from now is already happening in some parts of the world – that’s the scary thing,” Lou Clark, 28, from Suffolk, east England, who is currently staying on the Greek island of Skyros with his girlfriend, told CNN.
“Five years ago, me and my friends wouldn’t even have talked about it, but now it’s a much more conversational topic.”
Greek authorities have repeatedly warned tourists not to underestimate the heat, especially during the day, with recent fatalities in the country commonly linked to hiking in high temperatures.
Temperatures in Greece are expected to be in the 90s to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (low to mid 30s Celsius) for the next two weeks, a few degrees warmer than the summer average, although cooler temperatures will be expected for a day or two when rain is expected, CNN forecasters said.
Stefanos Sidiropoulos, who runs Greece’s largest outdoor travel agency, said tourists shouldn’t jump straight into activities. “It’s more difficult for people coming from northern Europe or Canada, where the temperatures are lower. They need time to adapt to these conditions,” he told CNN.
Sidiropoulos’s travel agency, Trekking Hellas, now offers some activities at cooler times, such as sunrise and sunset, “or at night with a flashlight,” he adds.
The impacts of climate change on tourist holiday destinations will have serious implications for some countries that depend on tourist revenues.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism generates about 38 billion euros ($41 billion) in Greece’s economic output, roughly 20 percent of the country’s total economy.
In Italy, where heat alerts of the highest level, level 3, were recently issued for the cities of Rome, Perugia and Palermo, the latest figures showed tourism accounts for 10 percent of the country’s economy and provides one in eight jobs.
Expressed concern about climate change increased 7% among European travelers after thousands of people were evacuated from wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes during the European heatwave in the summer of 2023, according to the European Travel Council (ETC), a non-profit organization that promotes Europe as a travel destination. [AD: Do we have figures? If not, I wouldn’t say sharp and characterise it as anecdotal]
ETC told CNN it sees a decline in interest in southern Mediterranean holiday destinations for the summer of 2022-2023, with cooler destinations such as the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Denmark becoming more attractive.
“Travellers are becoming increasingly aware of extreme weather and its potential impact on their holidays,” ETC CEO Eduardo Santander told CNN, adding that people may now be more likely to visit southern Europe in the spring and late autumn rather than the hot summer months.
Santander said that for now, tourists’ concerns about climate change tend to be relatively short-lived. “Travellers become concerned once the summer is over, but tend to forget about such events when they book their next holiday in the spring,” he said.
The heatwaves are just one way that climate change is affecting tourist destinations across Europe, but there are other effects as well.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), warming temperatures caused by climate change are pushing disease-carrying mosquito populations into new parts of Europe.
Clark, a tourist currently staying on Skyros, said mosquito numbers were extremely high during the heatwave in early June.
“We got bitten really badly. There was no wind and even though we sprayed ourselves, they still managed to bite us,” Clark told CNN. “It was definitely due to the low wind and warm temperatures.”
According to the ECDC, Aedes albopictus, a key species of mosquito that spreads dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses, is now established in many European countries, including Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
ECDC director Andrea Ammon said travel could contribute to the species’ range expansion. “Increased international travel from dengue-endemic countries will also increase the risk of imported cases,” she said in a statement.
The ECDC recorded 130 locally transmitted cases of dengue in Europe last year, up from 71 in 2022.
The ECDC told CNN that no locally transmitted cases of dengue have been reported in Europe so far this summer, but based on trends from previous summers, they expect the first cases to be reported within the next few weeks.
One case of West Nile virus, spread by the native Culex mosquito, was reported in March in the Spanish province of Seville, according to the ECDC. Last year, the organization recorded 713 locally transmitted cases of West Nile virus infection in nine EU countries, resulting in 67 deaths.
Last summer’s record temperatures around the world were caused by a combination of human-induced climate change and the return of El Niño, a natural phenomenon that causes global temperatures to rise.
This combination has caused temperatures to rise to record levels in parts of Europe, the fastest warming continent on Earth.
But even if El Niño’s influence weakens, experts say the long-term trend of global warming will continue. “Climate change is increasing the likelihood that extreme events will occur more frequently and become more severe,” Rebecca Carter, director of climate adaptation and resilience at the World Resources Institute, told CNN.
She added that rising tourist numbers in some parts of Europe were putting added pressure on already struggling local governments who had to protect residents from the heat and provide security for visitors.
Carter said the travel industry needs to consider climate adaptation. “I don’t think the travel industry is thinking about climate adaptation as much as it should be,” he said, adding that airline and hotel booking rules could be more flexible, for example.
“People plan these trips weeks or even months in advance, and it’s impossible to predict when a particular location will experience extreme heat.”
Carter said some tourists, such as parents with children in school, have less flexibility when it comes to making travel plans. In these situations, planning is key, she said. “What if a heatwave hits and the power goes out? Can you plan ahead of time where you’re going to go for help?”
Trekking Hellas’s Sidiropoulos agreed that planning ahead is important, but still urges visitors to get outside and enjoy Greek culture and the beauty of the natural world.
“I always tell people who travel: ‘Don’t just stay in a hotel, go to a restaurant and do the mundane things,'” he says. “You’ll get a chance to see nature and you’ll see the real face of our country.”
