Climate Crisis Offers Travel Growth To Avoid Covid-Style Lockdowns

14.08.2023 - 12:35 / forbes.com / Sebastian Ebel

For many travel operators, the climate crisis may be an opportunity for growth, as bookings can be taken for longer throughout the year and newer (cooler) destinations become more attractive. It will also enable tourists to avoid Covid-style lockdowns where they may be forced to stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day across Europe, as has been the case for holidaymakers and residents throughout July and August in the northern hemisphere.

Sebastian Ebel, the chief executive of Tui, one of Europe's leading travel companies predicts that tourists will start turning away from what he called "a scorching southern Europe" and head to northern Europe and Poland instead. His comments came after the company he runs evacuated over 8,000 travelers from Rhodes in Greece in July, costing the company over $27 million in repatriation flights, as well as cancellations.

The data for this summer's bookings is starting to prove his point. While the main direction of summer travel is still from northern to southern Europe during July and August, there has been a boon in bookings on the U.K.'s southern coast this summer and Mastercard has seen a shift, as reported by The Telegraph, in northern European holiday bookings.

Ebel added that for companies like Tui, the climate crisis offers further economic growth as some people will still travel during the hottest periods (such as July and August in the Northern hemisphere) but many will choose to visit the same destinations in what were typically considered shoulder seasons. Ebel predicted that U.K. travelers, for instance, will head to Greece until mid November or even until Christmas.

With so many families locked into school holidays as the only time to get away, however, it does mean that many travelers won't have a choice on when they depart and many will run up against the need to take protection from ferocious heat when they reach their destination.

Summer 2023 has not turned out to be the predicted summer of revenge travel for many. Nor is summer the "silly season" for press stories, usually a time, as reported by The Guardian, where there's a lack of news because everyone is taking a break. Not any more; weather itself is now the news.

July has been the hottest month on record, as reported by Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) with temperatures across many southern European cities reaching past 40 degrees Celsius, with wildfires across Portugal and Greece leading to the evacuation of thousands of tourists, some still in their swimsuits.

Around the world, countries have been shutting down, of sorts. Bloomberg reported that as Iran reached a temperature of 52 degrees in early August, it declared a two-day public holiday closing banks and offices,