Ask Skift: How Are Heat Waves Affecting Travel?

Skift Take

Heat waves around the world have posed enormous challenges for businesses, including those in travel. Here’s a look at how scorching temperatures are impacting the travel industry.

Rashaad Jorden

Heat waves have struck dozens of destinations worldwide this summer, making life difficult for hundreds of thousands of people — including travelers.

So how are heat waves affecting travel?

We posed the question to our artificial intelligence chatbot Ask Skift, which used information from our past news coverage and research. We also did additional reporting.

What Ask Skift said:

Heatwaves are having a significant impact on travel decisions and patterns. According to reports by the European Travel Commission, around 7.6% of travelers now consider extreme weather events, including heatwaves, a major concern when planning trips, particularly during the peak travel season from June to November. This concern is leading to shifts in travel behavior, with some tourists opting for cooler destinations to avoid the extreme heat.

Despite the growing concern, the demand for travel has surged as people move past pandemic restrictions. Travel companies have noted that the heat has not yet caused many cancellations, but this situation could change as heatwaves become more intense and frequent. Luxury travel advisors also predict that climate change will continue to influence travel decisions, prompting travelers to choose destinations like Norway and Copenhagen, which are not typically summer hotspots.

What else you need to know:

Impact on destinations: Greece, in particular, has been hard hit by heat waves this summer. Record-breaking heat in the country contributed to the deaths of at least six tourists in June, and scorching temperatures drove Greek authorities to order the Acropolis — one of Greece’s most famous landmarks — to be closed for five hours on July 17. The Acropolis had also been temporarily closed the previous month after local media reported that tourists had fainted while in line.

Héctor Tejero, the head of health and climate change at Spain’s health ministry, recently said heat waves pose a “real risk” to mass tourism in the country.

“It’s a real risk because the big Spanish sol y playa tourist areas – the areas that are most dependent on tourism – are places where the impact of climate change is going to be greatest in Spain,” Tejero said. “There’s a definite risk that zones where there’s (the) most tourism will become less habitable because of more heatwaves and much hotter nights.”

Tejero added Spain saw several fatal cases of heatstroke last year among tourists older than 50 years of age who had gone hiking during the middle of the summer.

Impact on air travel: Heat waves can also complicate air travel. High temperatures can force planes to reduce the weight they carry, which can cause delays. Airlines generally shed fuel, bags or people on days when they have to reduce the weight of an aircraft.

The New York Times reported in July that members of the Association of Flight Attendants have repeatedly urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to set minimum standards for cabin temperatures, expressing concerns about the dangers of heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses. Flight attendants have shared accounts in a petition to the DOJ of cabin temperatures hitting the high 90s and the health problems caused by the heat.

Finally, in the Middle East, hotels in Dubai — where temperatures recently hit as high as 104°F recently — have slashed rates to attract travelers who could be deterred from visiting due to the heat. Luxury hotels cost roughly $250 a night in June and July, compared to the year-to-date average of $435, according to Philip Wooler, Middle East head for hotel industry data company STR.