Disaster is on the horizon for travel and tourism if we don't start doing things differently

The summer of 2023 is set to be a memorable one — smashing records for the hottest day and hottest month in history, and now on track to be the hottest year. 

Extreme weather events such as heatwaves and wildfires across the Mediterranean and in the US and China are unfortunately becoming more common. 

Recent studies show that climate change has made extreme weather events 50% more likely. 

As a result, the travel and tourism industry is facing cancellations and dream vacations are cut short. According to one analysis, holiday refund requests are already up nearly 18%.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a €4 trillion hit to global travel and tourism GDP and 62 million job losses — and exposed the travel and tourism industry’s vulnerability. 

Today, while international arrivals are on the rise, the industry is still in post-pandemic recovery, with global arrivals below 2019 levels in some parts of the world.

Climate change not only threatens to undo these gains. It also poses an existential threat to the industry, which itself accounts for roughly 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

As the sector also accounts for close to 8% of global GDP — and as much as 70% in some countries — there are enormous risks if we continue on a business-as-usual path.

In both Greece and Italy, countries feeling the brunt of extreme weather, tourism accounted for almost 19% and 10% of GDP in 2022, respectively. 

Recent data from the European Travel Commission shows tourism in the Mediterranean has already dropped by 10% this summer compared to last year. 

Across Europe, the tourism industry includes more than 2 million businesses, primarily small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), employing an estimated 12.3 million people. 

With millions of people