Climate change is causing temperatures to rise in Spain and other southern European countries. According to many Spanish and international newspapers, this is already affecting tourism. There is a shift going on with more tourists flocking to central and northern Europe during the hottest months, which is detrimental to countries such as Spain where more tourists will travel again in spring and autumn due to the pleasant temperatures, according to a international study.
A report by the European Joint Research Center (JRC) shows that if the temperature rises by three or four degrees Celsius, tourist numbers in the southern coastal areas would fall by almost 10% in summer. On the other hand, in such a scenario, Northern European coastal destinations would attract about 5% more tourists during the summer and early autumn.
According to the same report, in the southern regions, such as Spain, the reduced visits in the summer will be somewhat compensated by more tourists in the other seasons, such as the spring, autumn and winter months.
In 2022, 34% of all tourist nights in the EU were during the months of July and August, with the most pronounced seasonal peaks in countries such as Spain, Croatia, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy and France, according to Eurostat figures. Nevertheless, clear shifts in tourism are already noticeable. According to JRC, the number of people who planned their holidays between June and November in countries such as Greece, Spain or Portugal fell by 4%.
A possible solution could be shifting the summer season or distributing holidays throughout the year. This is already being applied in countries such as Belgium, where schools’ summer holidays have been shortened to accommodate more holiday weeks in other parts of the year. Can this be applied in other countries? This would be a challenge for Spain. Adjusting the summer season would require major restructuring and would affect not only tourism, but also many other economic and social sectors. As is well known, children in Spain have three months of summer vacation, something that is so woven into Spanish culture that it is difficult to adjust.
2023-08-13 11:04:02
#Future #forecast #summer #northern #Europe #springautumn #southern #Europe
