Climate change seems to be changing the landscape of the tourist season and destinations. High temperatures and high prices are forcing more and more travellers to leave Europe’s seaside locations and choose less crowded destinations for their summer holidays this year.
But this does not seem to deter Greece or other southern European countries. Rebecca Masri, founder of luxury travel app Little Emperors, has a solution for those determined to return to old favourites despite the prices, weather and crowds. She urges them to go in September, saying “The high season for places like Italy and Greece is now September.”
High temperatures and high prices
Data provided to Bloomberg by Chase Travel shows that either because of rising prices in Mediterranean hot spots or rising temperatures in Europe, travelers are choosing off-the-beaten-path destinations such as Brussels, Munich, Zurich and Warsaw.
Rapidly rising inflation has put the average price of luxury rooms in Europe above €1,700 in 2023, according to data from Virtuoso, a luxury travel consultancy group, this is almost double the €900 rate back in 2019.
“We’re seeing a desire to go to locations or destinations where the prices are not as outrageous,” explains Misty Belles, Virtuoso’s Vice President of International PR, confirming Chase’s findings.
A Google search for hotels shows that rooms in five-star hotels in Brussels are available for less than €500 in the first week of June, while in Paris, the price is closer to €900.
The heat is on
“Last summer, Europe was too crowded in addition to being incredibly hot,” says Misty Belles. That’s an unappealing combination which made more people seek destinations further north in Europe, she explains. Proof of this is Virtuoso’s bookings, which sees the Netherlands up 33% from last year, bookings for Austria up 31% and Germany up 26%.
The Dutch chase away the tourists
There are also those cities that are genuinely worried about the increase in tourism. One of them being Amsterdam.
The city ranks fifth among Chase’s fastest-growing city destinations. The startling tourism figures have even led the government to launch a “stay away” campaign to discourage mass tourism.
Europe’s fastest growing city destinations
Brussels +73% year-on-year increase
Munich +63%
Zurich +59%
Warsaw +55%
Amsterdam +54%
Vienna +53%
Shannon, Ireland +53%
Zagreb, Croatia +51%
Prague +49%
Budapest +48%
SOURCES: Chase Travel, Bloomberg
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