Heat in Europe: Summer holidays on the Mediterranean are becoming obsolete

2023-07-25 07:59:23

Sun, sand and sea, year in, year out. For decades, the southern European Mediterranean countries have attracted millions of holidaymakers every summer. Tourism there is primarily beach holidays: Tourism researchers call this “3S”, i.e. “Sun, Sea, Sand”. Despite record heat, forest fires, drought this year, but also in the hot summers of 2022, 2018, 2006 and 2003, holidaymakers can hardly be dissuaded from these habits.

Spain, Italy, Croatia and Greece continue to groan under extremely high temperatures. According to science, this will happen even more frequently in the future.

Travel in spring and autumn

The result: Beach tourism on the Mediterranean threatens to become obsolete in midsummer, tourism researchers warn. Prof. Dr. Harald Zeiss is Director of the Institute for Tourism Research at the Harz University of Applied Sciences in Wernigerode. He says: “The future of summer holidays in the Mediterranean is in question in the face of renewed heat waves. The rising temperatures will affect tourism and travel habits in the medium term.”

Adjustments are necessary, in particular investments in climate-friendly infrastructure and the promotion of alternatives to traditional summer activities. Zeiss: “Instead of sun, beach and sea, maybe a bathing lake in a low mountain range.”

More on the heat and its consequences:

If you still want to go to the Mediterranean, you should rethink your time and switch to Easter and autumn holidays in the medium term in order to look for cooler and therefore more pleasant travel times. Zeiss: “The spring and autumn months offer a milder climate and more pleasant temperatures in many Mediterranean destinations. In the future, these periods will be attractive alternatives to the hot summer in order to maintain tourism in the region.”

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But the travel industry is also in demand here. Zeiss: “In order to promote a more even distribution of tourist flows throughout the year and to reduce dependence on summer holidays, tourism companies and associations should now do more marketing for the off-season and offer special offers in the spring and autumn months.”

That would also be good for the environment. According to the tourism researcher, shifting the flow of holidaymakers to the off-season would not only make the tourism sector more stable in the future, but also reduce the environmental impact. For example, a high concentration of tourists in the summer months means excessive water consumption and more garbage.

Spain, Italy, Greece – vacation as usual

However, a change in behavior among travelers is also required. However, there is no discernible trend to change traditional holiday habits in order to escape the heat. Although many holidaymakers are aware of the alternatives, they keep booking sun, sand and sea in midsummer in southern Europe.

Zeiss: “Many stick to their habit or have limited alternatives outside of the summer months – for example families have to travel during the summer holidays. In addition, special functions or events only take place in summer. These would have to be placed in autumn or spring.”

According to Zeiss, many travelers would also underestimate the risks of heat waves, which can be particularly dangerous for children and the elderly. However, he predicts: “The more frequently these heat waves occur, the more vacationers will look for alternatives.”

In Rome, tourists try to cool down a bit with fans

Those: dpa/Andrew Medichini

A current survey of the mobility app Freenow under 14,000 users also sees no rethinking. It shows the classic, stoic behavior of the majority of German holidaymakers: Spain (29 percent), Italy (23 percent) and Greece (17 percent) are among the most popular destinations abroad this summer, i.e. the hot spots of this record summer.

The main travel month is August (46 percent). Only four out of ten Germans are planning this year’s summer vacation in their own country, so alternatives such as Poland (three percent) or Ireland (one percent) only play a minor role among German vacationers.

Cooler destinations than Mediterranean countries

And is the southern heatwave affecting aviation? No, that’s what the airline Easyjet says, for example – one of the airlines that focuses on the Mediterranean racetracks in summer. So far there has been no negative impact on business. The travelers would go on vacation and not be deterred by the heat, said Easyjet CEO Johan Lundgren on the travel platform „FVW Travel Talk“ on record.

There was also no slump in bookings. There are generally no free cancellations or rebookings in the heat, but in the case of forest fires.

“Anyone who travels without a tour operator will initially have to pay their own way”

“The package tourist is clearly better secured,” says lawyer for travel law Kay Rodegra on the rights of tourists on Rhodes. The tour operator must take care of both the early departure and the reimbursement of hotel costs. The situation is more difficult for private travellers.

However, if more people want to travel from the south to the north in the future to spend their holidays in northern Europe, Easyjet will adapt. “We are very flexible and follow demand with our offers,” Lundgren continued.

Travel destinations that are cooler than the south of Europe and spring and autumn as the preferred travel times could gain in importance in the long term, according to the assessment of the European Travel Commission (ETC) in Brussels. According to the ETC survey, Spain, Italy, France, Croatia and Greece are still the most popular travel destinations for Central Europeans. But countries like the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Denmark are becoming increasingly popular as summer alternatives.

This is due to those travelers seeking less crowded destinations and milder temperatures, according to ETC. According to the survey, almost eight percent of travelers now see extreme weather events as the main problem when traveling between June and November.

Temperatures are also rising on the North Sea and Baltic Sea

There are enough alternatives. Carlo Speth, travel expert at the online travel portal holiday pirates, suggests: “Off to the mountains.” Alpine destinations such as Austria, northern Italy, north-eastern France and Slovenia, for example, benefit from their infrastructure at dizzy heights. A difference in altitude of 1000 meters results in an average temperature difference of six degrees Celsius and thus ensures more pleasant temperatures in summer.

Travel destinations in northern Europe such as England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales or Scandinavia with Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland also offer moderate temperatures in times of extreme heat in the south, says Speth.

The travel expert also sees great potential in Eastern Europe, namely in Poland and in the Baltic States with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These countries also offer significantly lower prices than many classic holiday destinations.

Alternative summer holiday destinations:

After all: holidaymakers who rent holiday homes or apartments have apparently changed their minds for the first time. The holiday home provider Vrbo Direct reports that German interest in destinations in the east is increasing. Border regions are in demand in June, July and August. People are looking for holiday homes primarily directly behind the German border in Poland and the Czech Republic.

For the Polish West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which borders on Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the Baltic Sea, the provider FeWo-direkt is currently registering 70 percent more search queries than in the past year, and for the Karlovy Vary region in the Czech Republic even 90 percent.

For tourism researcher Zeiss, this development fits into the picture: “There is nothing wrong with ‘sea, sun and sand’. You will also get that on the North Sea or Baltic Sea – and every year with a higher probability as far as the solar aspect is concerned. Temperatures are also rising in the north, making the Mediterranean region less and less attractive in summer.”

Incidentally, last-minute vacationers have an advantage in hot summers – they can choose their travel destination at short notice and make it dependent on the weather. Unlucky, on the other hand, are early bookers, who can only rebook at an additional cost.