A STUDY BASED ON DATA RELATING TO UNESCO SITES IS INVESTIGING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOURISM AND CLIMATE
Does climate change also affect tourism? And which? This is what the researchers involved in the project will try to understand “Turismo Climate-sensitive”.
This is a study that has a dual purpose: on the one hand, to analyze and measure the impact of the climate emergency on the behavior of travel demand and tourism supply; on the other, contribute to developing new working models for businesses and tourist destinations, based on objective data.
Tourism and climate: fewer holidays in summer
Research “Turismo Climate-sensitive” highlights, from the first data, a new modulation of the presence of foreign tourists. The latter in fact decrease by 25% in the summer months, with a simultaneous increase in spring and autumn. «These are facts that describe a clear shift in tourist flows with an impact on the main tourist organisations“, explains Enitthe National Tourism Board.
«2023 was the warmest year ever according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The increase in average temperatures changes the criteria, times, methods and costs of holidays, at the seaside, in the mountains, outdoors, in cities of art, in archaeological sites and museums, etc. “Forcing heat”, i.e. the progressive increase in average temperatures, has a profound impact on the sector. Tourism, in fact, is one of the most exposed activities of interest to the country, because Italy is at the center of the Mediterranean hot spot in which extreme climatic events are accelerated by 20%».
Climate impact, cultural tourism and UNESCO sites
“Climate impact, cultural tourism and UNESCO sites” ed “Evolution of the supply and demand relationship in climate-sensitive tourism”are among the research topics.
The investigation into cultural tourism aims to examine the management of cultural heritage in Italy using the 59 principals UNESCO to understand the national system’s response capacity to the critical issues of climate change. In 2022 Italy recorded more 142 million visitors in heritage tourism, for a value of approximately 12 billion euros.
On the basis of these data, according to Enit, it is therefore important to evaluate «an important change in the strategy of destinations, OTAs and companies, the cornerstone of which is to integrate the climate emergency into the business model, rather than being caught unprepared, and involving all its stakeholders to be part of the new decisions. First of all, the same customers who, in fact, 51% (Booking, 2023) will decide to plan trips and holidays based on the climate forecasts for the period and the chosen destination”.
The database is offered by the study of 10 destinations and 7 companies. These are Austria, the Municipality of Courmayer, the Alpine Convention, San Sebastian (Spain), Ireland, Ljubljana (Slovenia), Norway, Scotland, Porto (Portugal) and Valencia (Spain).
For companies, Booking, Expedia, and the accommodations of Marriott, Boutiquehotel Stadt Halle, Hotel Doolin, Hotel Ullensvang and Whatley Manor will provide data.
The protagonists of research on tourism and climate
The research is ongoing and is managed by the Santagata Foundation of Turin in collaboration with Studio Giaccardi & Associati of Ravenna.
Involved in the study: Elena Di Racoresearch manager of the ENIT Study Center, on “Evidence 2023, opportunities and critical issues 2024”; Paola Borrioneresearch director and president of the Santagata Foundation, on “Objectives, actions and expectations of the Climate-sensitive Tourism research project”. And then Rodolfo Baggioresearcher and professor at Bocconi University in Milan, on “The data necessary for climate-sensitive destinations”.
In the end Marco Antoniolichief analyst at Studio Giaccardi & Associati, on “Climate adaptation strategies of businesses and tourist destinations in Italy and Europe” which also presents a statistical estimate of the reduction in attendance due to the “forcing heat” calculated with respect to a group of regional destinations in central northern and central southern Italy.
A boom in attendance is expected for Easter
Meanwhile, for the Easter holidays which are imminent, the arrival of 217 thousand foreigners is expected.
The USA, with over 11 thousand bookings, represents 17.7% of the overall figure and is the first country of foreign origin. Germany, France and Spain follow, with airport arrivals accounting for 5.2%, 4.6% and 3.6% respectively. British (3.5%), Brazilian (2.6%), Korean (2.2%), Portuguese (2.1%) and Canadian (1.9%) tourists are also expected.
Instead, 12 thousand Italians will travel by plane along the Peninsula in these four days, 19.2% of the total.
Among the most popular destinations during the Easter period are Trentino-Alto Adige, Valle d’Aosta and Rome. Among the regions, Liguria is in the lead for seaside holidays, while Tuscany, Abruzzo, Veneto and Campania compete for multi-product offers.