Where will tourists go now that the heat is stifling in Europe?

High summer temperatures in southern Europe could trigger a lasting change in tourist habits, with more travelers choosing cooler destinations or taking their holidays in the spring or autumn to avoid extreme heat, predict tourism bodies and experts. experts.

Data from the European Travel Commission (ETC) shows that the number of people hoping to travel to the Mediterranean region between June and November has already fallen by 10% compared to last year, when scorching weather brought droughts and forest fires.

Meanwhile, destinations such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland and Bulgaria have seen renewed interest.

“We anticipate that unpredictable weather conditions in the future will have a greater impact on travelers’ choices in Europe,” said ETC Director Miguel Sanz.

A trade body report also shows that 7.6% of travelers now rate extreme weather events as a major concern for travel between June and November.

Among them are Anita Elshoy and her husband, who returned home to Norway from their favorite vacation spot of Vasanello, a town north of Rome, a week earlier than expected this month when temperatures hit 35C vs.

“(I had) a lot of pain in my head, my legs and (my) fingers were swollen and I was getting more and more dizzy,” Elshoy said of his heat-related symptoms. “We were supposed to be there for two weeks, but we couldn’t (stay) because of the heat.”

Travel demand has soared again this summer as tourists shake off years of pandemic restrictions, and travel agencies say the heat has yet to cause many cancellations.

Britons, in particular, have been booking fewer stay-at-home and more Mediterranean holidays, often months in advance, as they continue to crave post-lockdown beach getaways, said the group’s Sean Tipton of British travel agents ABTA. .

But that balance could shift as heat waves become more grueling. Scientists have long warned that climate change, caused by CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels, will make weather events more frequent, severe and deadlier.

Forecasters predict that temperatures in the coming week could exceed Europe’s current record of 48.8 degrees Celsius, set in Sicily in August 2021, raising fears of a repeat of last year’s heat deaths.

Stories of tourists arriving from Italian beaches or being transported by ambulance from the Acropolis in Athens have flooded European media in recent weeks.

“Our recent research indicates a drop in the number of people interested in traveling in August, the peak month, while more Europeans are planning to travel in the fall,” Sanz said.

Tourists in Rome told Reuters they would think twice before booking a trip there again in July as they struggle to drink enough water, stay cool and find places with air conditioning in order to relax.

“I’ll come when it’s colder. Just June, April,” said Dalphna Niebuhr, an American tourist vacationing with her husband in Rome this week, who said the heat made her visit “miserable”.

This is bad news for the Italian economy, which thrives on heavy summer traffic.

Italy’s environment ministry warned in a report this year that future foreign tourists would travel more in spring and autumn and choose cooler destinations.

“The balance will be negative, in particular because part of Italian tourists will contribute to the flow of international tourism to less hot countries,” the report says.

Some hope the change is simply a traffic turnaround, not a reduction.

In Greece, where international air arrivals rose 87.5% year-on-year between January and March, summer overcrowding has plagued tourist hotspots like the island of Mykonos.

According to the Greek Ministry of the Environment, the increase in travel in winter, spring and autumn could alleviate this problem and compensate for a possible summer slowdown.

Greek authorities closed the ancient Acropolis of Athens during the hottest part of Friday to protect tourists.

In Spain, strong holiday demand is expected in the country’s northern coastal destinations and in Spain’s tourist islands, where summer temperatures tend to be cooler, according to a report by national tourism association Exceltur.

Spaniards Daniel Otero and Rebeca Vázquez, who were visiting Bilbao, said they could move their holidays to June next year when it would be cooler and more comfortable.

For Elshoy, summers in southern Europe may be a thing of the past. He said he would consider going on vacation to his home country of Norway, adding: “I don’t want to have a vacation where I have a headache and dizziness again.”