· 84% of London holidaymakers say overseas holiday hotspots will become too hot to visit
· Staycationers will soon holiday abroad to escape the extreme heat at home
With London having endured its hottest days on record, many London travellers are already changing their holiday plans – swapping southern Europe for cooler climes, shifting travel dates from summer to spring, or rethinking where they’ll go altogether.
The consideration given to changing holiday plans is a direct result of growing public concern over extreme heat and wildfires during the summer months, a regular feature of recent years. This summer, 84% of adults think one of more popular holiday destinations will be too hot to visit within the next five years – an increase on 70% in 2022.
Spain remains the country most commonly seen as becoming too hot for a summer break in the years ahead (36%), followed by Turkey (32%), Greece (31%), Cyprus (22%) and Italy (22%).
This is no longer just an overseas holiday worry. Given the record temperatures of recent days in the Capital, Londoners (21%) are almost twice as likely as anyone else in the UK (11%) to believe even the UK could be too hot to enjoy a staycation holiday within the next five years, suggesting extreme heat could pose a significant risk to the domestic tourism industry.
Responding to the issue of extreme heat, some people are also rethinking where they go on holiday altogether. Countries like Iceland (22%), Canada (21%) and Sweden (18%) are climbing the list of preferred destinations for cooler summer holidays, along with Ireland (17%) and Finland (16%).
Garry Nelson, Head of Corporate Affairs at InsureandGo comments: “People aren’t just chasing the sun anymore – they’re thinking about how to cope with it. For some, that means skipping July and August altogether. For others, it means ditching southern Europe in favour of cooler destinations. Even the unthinkable is on the cards, as some staycationers become overseas holidaymakers to escape the summer heat in the UK – a country that is not really geared to cope comfortably with extreme heat.”
“At InsureandGo, we want to help people go abroad without the doubt. We would encourage people to do their destination research before they fly off and also to check what their travel insurance covers in terms of cancellation and medical cover if you are travelling with pre-existing conditions.”