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Do heatwaves, wildfires and travel costs signal the end of the holiday abroad?

It was a prediction nobody wanted to hear. On the main stage of the world’s
biggest tourism fair, Stefan Gössling, a leading researcher in sustainable
transport, had just calmly announced the looming death of the holiday
industry. “We have already entered the beginning of the age of
non-tourism,” said Gössling, to an uneasy audience of travel agencies,
car rental companies, cruise operators and hoteliers. That prophecy may
sound fanciful to holidaymakers in Europe and North America who have been
jetting off this summer – as well as to industry executives delighted to
see international tourism return to pre-pandemic highs last year – but
Gössling argues that as carbon pollution stokes heatwaves, fuels wildfires
and ruins harvests, the cost of foreign travel will soar, and fewer people
will be able to afford it. Gössling is not short of examples of
destinations already feeling the squeeze. Warm weather is melting snow that
keeps Alpine ski resorts alive. Coastal erosion is stripping sand from
southern European beaches. Droughts are forcing Spanish hotels to ship in
fresh water as swimming pools lie empty, while wildfires are setting scenic
Greek islands ablaze.

Guardian 23rd Aug 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/23/do-heatwaves-wildfires-and-travel-costs-signal-the-end-of-the-holiday-abroad

August 25, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change