Climate Change and Security of Employment in Tourism

 

The travel and tourism sector is one of the largest economic sectors in the European Union. Many regions are directly dependent on tourism, including the Mediterranean and the Alps.

 

The climate is a driving factor in the choice of holiday destinations. A shift in regional tourist centres will take place with climate change. If, as forecasted, the northern Aegean has an average summer temperature of 40 degrees within 20 years, it will become unattractive for beach tourism. A significant rise in temperatures in central and northern Europe, on the other hand, will lead to summer tourism becoming more attractive in these countries.

 

About 10% of the Gross National Product is currently spent worldwide on leisure and tourism. It is estimated that climate change will affect not the amount, but the place, where expenditure occurs. Whereas we see today that the residents of Italy, Spain, and France holiday in their own country because of the summer climate, a change will mean that many potential Mediterranean tourists from today's high spots of 'source' tourism will stay in their own countries as their climate improves (possibly 'origin' tourism instead of 'source' tourism). Climate change thus produces winners and losers.

 

All things considered, climate change will have an enormous impact on jobs in today's tourist centres. Unions must concern themselves in good time with the possible outcome of such a change and its consequences. In a study presented in February 2007 the ETUC researched for the first time the effects of climate change on jobs. Result: if trade unions do not become active and develop precautionary strategies, workers in some industries, such as tourism, will be amongst those most affected.