ETC chief: 'Climate change is the biggest threat to tourism right now'

With Europe being the most visited continent in the world, how can tourism flows be managed in a way that supports local communities while also adapting to the challenges of climate change?

Speaking at the Euronews Travel & Tourism Summit in Brussels, Eduardo Santander, CEO and Executive Director at the European Travel Commission (ETC), described the continent as becoming a “museum or attraction park” for the world’s travellers.

“There’s nothing wrong” with that, he said, adding that an attraction park or museum can be a “perfect place to be” when it is “well organised” and “well managed”.

In the latest edition of the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) published in September, European countries accounted for seven of the world’s top 10 countries for tourism, with Spain ranking in third.

This popularity comes with significant economic weight. Tourism accounts for 10% of Europe’s economy, Santander said, adding that in some markets, the tourism industry is “instrumental”, including in his native Spain, where it accounts for 10% of GDP. In other markets, he added, this figure jumps to as much as 15% or even 20%.

As such, the ETC chief said that tourism infrastructures, such as accommodation and transport, deserve greater investment, especially as the continent looks to bolster productivity in industries such as the chemical and automotive sectors.

Rather than overtourism itself, he said congestion is a more pressing challenge – ranging from services at airports to ground transportation and bottlenecks at Europe’s popular attractions.

Climate change reshaping the industry

Aside from congestion and pressures on local communities, Santander also explained that “climate change is the biggest threat to tourism right now, by far”.

“We see that trains cannot run sometimes because the rails are expanded because of the heat. We saw this at the cruise lines on the European rivers – they couldn’t run because it was too dry,” Santander said.

“We see resilience becoming one of the engines of European tourism. We have to become even more resilient to whatever is next.”

Here, he highlighted the rise of the “coolcations” trend attracting travellers of the world. Summer of 2026 saw travellers look beyond the usual Mediterranean destinations amid scorching heat waves, in search of cooler escapes.

“We have to prepare for that in a much more coordinated and comprehensive way,” he added.

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