The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) includes climate change among the strategic risks facing the travel and tourism industry. The issues that the industry must pay attention to also include, for the first time, the protests against overtourism.
In particular, the challenges facing the industry are added:
Climate change, sustainability, and the environment, with the relevant issues increasingly being highlighted by the media. The case of the fires in Rhodes in August 2023 and the need to evacuate accommodation that hosted British tourists is characteristically mentioned, bringing climate change issues back to the fore.
The growing protests by locals in the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, and other destinations against overtourism and the impact it has on visitors.
ABTA CEO Mark Tanzer stressed that the effects of global warming and climate change are being felt all around us, stressing: “It is very likely that some types of holidays, in some locations, will become unsustainable, while unpredictable extreme weather events increase business risk throughout the travel chain.
He also warned: “We cannot turn a blind eye to over-tourism, saying that it is only due to the growth of the short-term rental market. Finding the right balance between the interests of hosts and tourists requires adaptation on both sides.”
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