In the summer of 2024, British broadcaster Michael Mosley disappeared while walking on the Greek island of Symi. A coroner later found the cause of death could have been heatstroke. He was not alone: several other foreign visitors died or went missing across southern Europe that summer as temperatures exceeded 40°C, prompting the UK, Germany and Sweden to issue travel advisories warning of extreme heat in popular Mediterranean destinations including Cyprus.
It was one of several summers that are beginning to look less like exceptions and more like the new norm.
Extreme temperatures across southern Europe are no longer an episodic hazard. They are reshaping when people travel, where they go, and what they can do when they arrive. That is the central argument of research by Mehri Khosravi, Energy and Carbon Senior Research Fellow at the University of East London, published in The Conversation. For Cyprus, which depends heavily on peak summer arrivals, the implications are direct and growing.
The coolcations trend
The most immediate commercial risk is the rise of “coolcations”: a growing shift among European travellers away from traditionally hot Mediterranean destinations towards cooler regions during peak summer months. Emerging evidence points to declining tourist demand in southern Europe during those months, alongside rising interest in destinations with milder climates.
The numbers are striking. A European Travel Commission report found that 28% of travellers are planning to change the time of year they travel, with avoiding extreme heat cited as a key reason. For Cyprus, which depends heavily on peak summer arrivals, that is a direct challenge to the foundations of its tourism model.
Heat is not only keeping tourists away. It is degrading the experience for those who do come. Extreme temperatures shorten stays, reduce participation in outdoor activities and lower overall satisfaction. In Greece, the Acropolis has closed during periods of extreme heat. The pressure on outdoor and archaeological sites across the region is growing.
Tourists in the heat: more exposed than residents
Tourists are disproportionately vulnerable to heat risk. They spend longer periods outdoors, take part in outdoor sports, and move through unfamiliar environments without knowing where to find shade or access local healthcare. Despite that heightened exposure, their vulnerability has received relatively little research attention, and most heat alert systems remain designed with residents in mind, leaving visitors largely outside the frameworks that could protect them.
Heat, wildfires and war
“Our reservoir was very low over the summer,” one participant in the University of East London research recalled. “Boating, sailing, and water sports couldn’t run. The centre has now closed. You see those ripple effects.”
That account captures something the temperature data alone does not. Wildfires, drought and water shortages are disrupting tourism economies in ways that extend well beyond the danger of high temperatures, shutting down activities, driving away visitors and closing businesses that depend on them.
Geopolitical pressure is compounding the problem. The US-led war against Iran is pushing up fuel and travel costs, making long-distance travel less attractive. For Cyprus, already navigating regional instability, that dynamic strengthens the case for travellers to choose nearer, cooler alternatives. If southern destinations become both hotter and more expensive, the shift away from them is likely to accelerate.
Adapting to a hotter future
Physical adaptation is already under way in some destinations. Attractions are shifting opening hours to cooler parts of the day, a trend increasingly described as “noctourism.” Shade, cool spaces and redesigned visitor management are becoming necessities rather than amenities.
But infrastructure alone will not be enough. Behaviour change matters just as much, and behaviour is shaped by risk perception. Travellers from temperate countries such as the UK, where awareness of extreme heat remains limited, may not recognise when conditions have become dangerous even when warnings are in place. Without a strong sense of risk, well-designed alerts can still fail to prompt action.
Airlines, hotels and travel websites could all play a role, providing heat safety guidance at the point of booking, before departure and during the stay. At present, most of that infrastructure does not exist in a form designed for visitors.
Until it does, tourists arriving in Cyprus and across the Mediterranean will remain among the most exposed and least prepared people in the heat.
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