Europe welcomed more visitors than any other continent last year, and yet its top tourism lobbyist is worried. Speaking at the Euronews Travel & Tourism Summit in Brussels, Eduardo Santander, CEO of the European Travel Commission (ETC), argued that the sector's biggest challenge isn't overtourism — it's the climate, and the strain that heat, drought and congestion are putting on the places travellers love.
His starkest examples were practical, not theoretical. Heatwaves have warped rail lines enough to halt trains, and low water levels have left river cruise ships unable to sail on some of Europe's famous waterways. "Climate change is the biggest threat to tourism right now, by far," he said, adding that resilience needs to become a core engine of European tourism planning.
The stakes are high because tourism carries real economic weight. It accounts for roughly 10% of Europe's economy, and in Santander's native Spain the figure is around 10% of GDP — rising to 15% or even 20% in some other markets. Europe also dominates the rankings: seven of the top ten countries in the World Economic Forum's latest Travel & Tourism Development Index, published in September, are European, with Spain in third place.
Santander described Europe as at risk of becoming a "museum or attraction park" for the world — though he was quick to say there's nothing wrong with that, provided it's well organised and well managed. His complaint is about coordination. Rather than too many tourists in the abstract, he pointed to congestion as the more immediate headache: slow airport processing, creaky ground transport and bottlenecks at headline attractions. He also called for more investment in accommodation and transport infrastructure, arguing it deserves a slot alongside support for heavy industries like chemicals and automotive.
One trend he flagged will sound familiar to anyone who booked differently last summer: the rise of "coolcations". During 2026's scorching heatwaves, travellers increasingly skipped the usual Mediterranean hotspots in favour of cooler escapes further north. Santander's message is that destinations and operators need to prepare for this shift in a far more coordinated way — because the disruption is already here, not a distant forecast.
For travellers, the practical takeaway is that Europe's peak summer is changing. Expect more destinations to spread visitors out, push earlier or later travel windows, and invest in climate resilience. If you've been burned by a heatwave holiday or a dried-up river cruise, you weren't alone — and the industry knows it.
