Greece: media, climate change threatens tourism

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, JUL 28 - The heatwaves in Greece exacerbated by climate change threaten the present and the future of Greek tourism and, by extension, the Greek economy, the daily Kathimerini wrote in an op-ed by Tom Ellis, the editor-in-chief of the English version of the newspaper. "The climate crisis - whose catastrophic and sometimes deadly consequences we are feeling these days - has created a trend shifting tourist flows to cooler climates and other destination countries. With the mercury climbing above 40 degrees Celsius with increasing frequency, the data show a 10% drop in interest in popular Mediterranean destinations," Ellis wrote. "At the same time - he continued - countries like Ireland, Denmark and the Czech Republic are starting to attract tourists looking for natural beauty but without the suffocating heat" experienced in Spain, Italy, France, Greece or Croatia. "Obviously, Greece remains a top destination, but the climate crisis will have negative consequences, and our country, like others renowned for their sunny and warm climate, will be one of the first and biggest victims of the new normal we are experiencing." (ANSA).