Thomas Cook | Copernicus

The Thomas Cook Group was the oldest and best known name in leisure travel with a history of innovation that started in 1841. With more than 22 million customers each year, with sales of over £9.5 billion. In September 2019, Thomas Cook went into liquidation. While many factors have been key to the collapse of the tourism company, weather conditions may also have taken its toll on the revenues of Thomas Cook. With higher temperatures than usual across large parts of Europe during the past two summers, also bookings declined. Whilst an exact assessment on how much the weather conditions impacted the movement of tourists is difficult, it is very likely that potential clients decided to stay home.

In the future, severe weather conditions and climate change will increasingly impact upon travel and tourism. Climate change and prolonged periods of hot weather will impact coastal tourism; the loss of destinations’ key attractions such as beaches and coral reefs will become increasingly likely.

Temperature increases could also lead to more frequent summer forest fires, which are especially common in the Mediterranean, challenging tourism operations within the region.