CNN
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Growing up in Texas, Mary Beth Walsh thought she was accustomed to high heat. Her town of Dallas usually experiences heat waves, which is now being suffocated by unrelenting heat.
But when the 21- yr- ancient visited Athens in middle- June with her buddies she was shocked by the “unbearable” 98 Degrees ( 37 Celsius ) heat she faced. ” I actually had no idea about the warmth that was going on until we were it, which was very surprising”, she told CNN.
She said,” I often joke about how much heating I have to take to school in the US in August, so I bring my hoodie with me.”
However, the house she was staying in had no weather conditioning, and the city’s conditions were very high during the day to travel by foot. Our energy rates were lower, she said,” than we anticipated.” Walking in the direct heat felt quite intolerable.
Summers in Europe are today a fact that many travelers are waking up to because of the climate crisis. Due to record heatwaves and fire, which experts claim are making more moderate locations extremely popular, interest in visiting hotter Mediterranean nations decreased in 2023.
New heat-related deaths and abductions in Greece, including those involving American TV character Michael Mosley, have the potential to further fuel this north trend, as extreme heat events can influence holiday decisions.
Countries in southern Europe, many of which rely on tourism to improve their economy, are becoming more concerned about how well the travel industry and travellers may react to the rising flood of climate impacts.
Some guests in Europe are now taking the climate crisis seriously as a result of recent high heat.
” Some parts of the world are now experiencing the culture crises that we’ve been anticipating may occur in 10 or 15 years.” That’s the terrible part”, Roo Clark, 28, from Suffolk in northeast England, who is already staying with his partner on the Greek island of Skyros, told CNN.
“Fi climate change ), whereas then it’s more of a e years ago, conversation”.
Greece’s authorities have repeatedly cautioned tourists not to overlook the extreme heat, mainly in the middle of the day. Hiking in large temperature has been a constant determinant of new national deaths.
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Conditions in Greece are forecast to be between 90 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit ( low- to middle- 30s in Celsius ) over the next couple of weeks, a few degrees above summertime common, according to CNN scientists, except for one to two weeks when weather is forecast, which will keep temperatures down.
Stefanos Sidiropoulos, who runs Greece’s largest travel agency specializing in outdoor activities, said tourists should n’t jump straight into activities. ” People that are coming from north 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 temperatures are lower, such as during sunrise and sunset hours. ” Or at night, with torches”, he adds.
Some nations will be severely affected by climate change because it will have a significant impact on where tourists are taking their vacations and how they are able to make money from them.
In Greece, tourism contributes nearly 38 billion euros ($ 41 billion )- around 20 % of the country’s entire economy, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
In Italy, where level three heat alerts — the highest warning —have recently been issued for the cities of Rome, Perugia and Palermo, tourism represents 10 % of the country’s economy, according to the latest figures, with one in every eight jobs linked to the industry.
According to the European Travel Commission ( ETC ), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of Europe as a travel destination, there was a 7 % increase in climate-related concerns among European travelers following Europe’s 2023 summer heat wave, which saw thousands flee from wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes. ]AD: Do we have figures? If not, I would n’t say sharp and characterise it as anecdotal ]
This is in response to a decline in interest in southern Mediterranean vacation spots between the summers of 2022 and 2023, with cooler spots like Denmark and Bulgaria becoming more appealing, according to ETC.
Travelers are becoming more aware of extreme weather events and their potential effects on their vacations, according to Eduardo Santander, CEO of ETC, who added that in the future, this could result in more travelers visiting southern Europe in the spring and late fall rather than the hotter summer months.
For the moment, Santander noted that tourist concerns about climate change are typically short-lived. Travelers are concerned after the summer, but he claimed they forget about those things when planning their spring vacations.
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According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECD ), warmer weather-related conditions are causing populations of disease-transmitting mosquitoes to spread to new areas of Europe.
The tourist who is currently on Skyros, Clark, claimed that the mosquitoes were very prevalent during the early June heat wave.
” We had a lot of bites,” we said. No wind came in, and even after we sprayed ourselves, they still managed to find a way, Clark said. ” It was undoubtedly the low winds and high temperatures that were causing it.”
One key species of mosquito that can spread dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses, called Aedes albopictus, is now established in many European countries, including Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, according to ECDC.
Andrea Ammon, ECDC director, said travel can contribute to the expansion of the species ‘ reach. She said in a statement,” Increased international travel from dengue-endemic countries will also increase the risk of imported cases.”
Last year, ECDC recorded 130 locally acquired cases of dengue in Europe, up from 71 cases in 2022.
According to ECDC, there have n’t been any locally acquired dengue cases reported in Europe this summer, but based on trend predictions for the first cases to be made in the coming weeks, based on earlier ones.
One human case of West Nile virus infection, spread by the native Culex pipiens mosquito, was reported in Spain’s Seville province 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.
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Last summer’s record- breaking temperatures across the globe were driven by a mix of human- caused climate change and the return of the natural, El Niño phenomenon, which brings warmer global temperatures.
This combination raised temperatures to record levels in parts of Europe, the planet’s fastest- warming continent.
But even as the impact of El Niño reduces, experts say that the long- term trend of global warming will continue. Rebecca Carter, director of climate adaptation and resilience at the World Resources Institute, stated to CNN,” Climate change is tilting the odds in favor of more extreme events happening more frequently and then becoming more severe.”
She added that the pressure is being put on local authorities by rising tourist numbers in some of Europe because they have to balance protecting residents from high temperatures with keeping visitors safe.
According to Carter, the travel sector should think about adjusting to climate change. ” It’s something I do n’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 make travel plans, it is made weeks or months in advance, and you ca n’t predict when a particular location will experience extreme heat.
Some tourists, such as parents whose children are at school, have less flexibility when deciding travel plans, Carter said. In these circumstances, she said planning was key:” What would you do if there was an extreme heat wave, and the power was out? Can you anticipate where you would go for assistance?
Sidiropoulos from Trekking Hellas acknowledged that forward planning was crucial, but he was also concerned about how visitors could still explore and soak up the splendor of Greece’s culture and natural world.
” I always say to people who are travelling,’ do n’t stay in your hotel and just do the classic things like go to a restaurant,'” he said. You have the chance to observe nature and witness the true side of our nation.
