How will climate change hit tourism in the Mediterranean?
Destructive fires, temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and tourists dodging possible
catastrophe by staying home. Will climate change end up transforming tourism -- not least in Mediterranean countries like France, Italy and Spain?
Regions which welcome a sizeable share of holidaymakers are also those hardest hit by climate change. In Greece, thousands of tourists have been evacuated in recent days from the islands of Rhodes and Corfu which have been ravaged by fires touched off by suffocatingly hot weather.
Rhodes' international airport has morphed into an improvised campsite flooded by disorientated tourists.
Other countries around the Mediterranean have also been hit.
In Spain, the thermometer has shot 15 degrees above normal summer season levels. Italy has also laboured under heatwaves with the island of Sardinia melting under 48 Celsius. There are also fears the devastating wildfires in Sicily will hit the island's tourist industry at its busiest period.
Fire now choking Palermo in Sicily. pic.twitter.com/TGhB8s3lnt
— Brendan May (@bmay) July 25, 2023
Firefighters on the south coast of France have also been tackling wildfires this week, which led to roads and rail lines being closed.
Ce mardi après-midi, un incendie s'est déclaré entre Villeneuve-Loubet et Cagnes-sur-Mer. Il est visible depuis l'autoroute A8.
📽️ Jess Haffner pic.twitter.com/ybOkvCXvOF
— Nice-Matin (@Nice_Matin) July 25, 2023
Tourism plays a key role in the region's economies -- the sector accounts for nearly a quarter of GDP in Greece and 12 percent in Spain.
Economic consequences
The soaring temperatures could turn off visitors.
READ ALSO: No more 'dolce vita': How extreme weather could change Italian tourism forever
For Jean-François Rial, who heads French travel firm Voyageurs du Monde, "global warming is going to render some destinations less and less visitable.
The whole of the Mediterranean is concerned and yet it is the main destination of European travellers."
In Spain, "we're starting to hear tourists ask themselves" if they should be looking to spend their summer break on the Mediterranean coast, said Joantxo Llantada, professor at Madrid's IE Business School.
According to a recent note from Moody's, "heatwaves may reduce Southern Europe's attractiveness as a tourist destination in the longer term or at the very least reduce demand in summer, which will have negative economic consequences given the importance of the sector."
READ ALSO: Mediterranean Sea breaks daily temperature record
No more sunworshipping?
Not so fast, suggests Hamit Kuk, who heads the association of Turkish travel operators.
"This issue is very important for the tourism industry -- but it is not a problem if temperatures are very hot in Antalya because European tourists mostly prefer to see the sun," Kuk told AFP.
"We can look at the examples of Egypt and Dubai. In July-August there are temperatures of 45C and tourists still prefer to go there.
The president of Tunisia's hotel federation, Dora Miled, told AFP that to date "the heat has had no impact on tourism.
READ ALSO: France badly hit by climate change and ill-prepared for impact, report warns
"If we have yet to return to 2019 activity levels ... that's above all mainly due to the high cost of air travel," said Miled.
Didier Arino, who heads the Protourisme travel consultancy in France, said: "When it comes to their holidays, people don't dream of a cool destination, they want good weather."
Even in Greece it is not certain that the fires will dissuade tourists from coming. Kostas Chryssohoides, vice prefect of Dodecanese, an island group in the southeastern Aegean Sea that includes Rhodes, observed that "24,000 tourists arrived on Rhodes" between Sunday and Monday, fires notwithstanding. Only a handful cancelled "as a precaution", he said.
Picking up the slack
Should it become next to impossible to visit a destination sweltering under abnormal temperatures holidaymakers could look further afield, suggests Jean-Francois Rial, who said "northern European destinations are on the rise."
He suggested that Britain and Ireland could both gain in tourist traction.
Alternatives
One thing sector professionals agree on is that tourism will change. They anticipate that total visitors to the Mediterranean could rise -- but reserve in seasons outside summer, boosted by increasing demand from pensioners.
"For now we have no worries about domestic market demand, but if the global climate crisis continues to escalate, we will have to review the summer and winter seasons," said Kuk.
In Rial's view, "that could perhaps be a chance to reduce 'over-tourism'... losing some clients in summertime but gaining more in the other nine months of the year."
For Protourisme's Arino, climate change will force tourism to evolve.
"We must conceive our cities somewhat differently, our resorts, the range of activities on offer."
Comments
See Also
Regions which welcome a sizeable share of holidaymakers are also those hardest hit by climate change. In Greece, thousands of tourists have been evacuated in recent days from the islands of Rhodes and Corfu which have been ravaged by fires touched off by suffocatingly hot weather.
Rhodes' international airport has morphed into an improvised campsite flooded by disorientated tourists.
Other countries around the Mediterranean have also been hit.
In Spain, the thermometer has shot 15 degrees above normal summer season levels. Italy has also laboured under heatwaves with the island of Sardinia melting under 48 Celsius. There are also fears the devastating wildfires in Sicily will hit the island's tourist industry at its busiest period.
Fire now choking Palermo in Sicily. pic.twitter.com/TGhB8s3lnt
— Brendan May (@bmay) July 25, 2023
Firefighters on the south coast of France have also been tackling wildfires this week, which led to roads and rail lines being closed.
Ce mardi après-midi, un incendie s'est déclaré entre Villeneuve-Loubet et Cagnes-sur-Mer. Il est visible depuis l'autoroute A8.
— Nice-Matin (@Nice_Matin) July 25, 2023
📽️ Jess Haffner pic.twitter.com/ybOkvCXvOF
Tourism plays a key role in the region's economies -- the sector accounts for nearly a quarter of GDP in Greece and 12 percent in Spain.
Economic consequences
The soaring temperatures could turn off visitors.
READ ALSO: No more 'dolce vita': How extreme weather could change Italian tourism forever
For Jean-François Rial, who heads French travel firm Voyageurs du Monde, "global warming is going to render some destinations less and less visitable.
The whole of the Mediterranean is concerned and yet it is the main destination of European travellers."
In Spain, "we're starting to hear tourists ask themselves" if they should be looking to spend their summer break on the Mediterranean coast, said Joantxo Llantada, professor at Madrid's IE Business School.
According to a recent note from Moody's, "heatwaves may reduce Southern Europe's attractiveness as a tourist destination in the longer term or at the very least reduce demand in summer, which will have negative economic consequences given the importance of the sector."
READ ALSO: Mediterranean Sea breaks daily temperature record
No more sunworshipping?
Not so fast, suggests Hamit Kuk, who heads the association of Turkish travel operators.
"This issue is very important for the tourism industry -- but it is not a problem if temperatures are very hot in Antalya because European tourists mostly prefer to see the sun," Kuk told AFP.
"We can look at the examples of Egypt and Dubai. In July-August there are temperatures of 45C and tourists still prefer to go there.
The president of Tunisia's hotel federation, Dora Miled, told AFP that to date "the heat has had no impact on tourism.
READ ALSO: France badly hit by climate change and ill-prepared for impact, report warns
"If we have yet to return to 2019 activity levels ... that's above all mainly due to the high cost of air travel," said Miled.
Didier Arino, who heads the Protourisme travel consultancy in France, said: "When it comes to their holidays, people don't dream of a cool destination, they want good weather."
Even in Greece it is not certain that the fires will dissuade tourists from coming. Kostas Chryssohoides, vice prefect of Dodecanese, an island group in the southeastern Aegean Sea that includes Rhodes, observed that "24,000 tourists arrived on Rhodes" between Sunday and Monday, fires notwithstanding. Only a handful cancelled "as a precaution", he said.
Picking up the slack
Should it become next to impossible to visit a destination sweltering under abnormal temperatures holidaymakers could look further afield, suggests Jean-Francois Rial, who said "northern European destinations are on the rise."
He suggested that Britain and Ireland could both gain in tourist traction.
Alternatives
One thing sector professionals agree on is that tourism will change. They anticipate that total visitors to the Mediterranean could rise -- but reserve in seasons outside summer, boosted by increasing demand from pensioners.
"For now we have no worries about domestic market demand, but if the global climate crisis continues to escalate, we will have to review the summer and winter seasons," said Kuk.
In Rial's view, "that could perhaps be a chance to reduce 'over-tourism'... losing some clients in summertime but gaining more in the other nine months of the year."
For Protourisme's Arino, climate change will force tourism to evolve.
"We must conceive our cities somewhat differently, our resorts, the range of activities on offer."
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.