Major Players in Travel Industry Enhance Preparations following Wildfires and Heatwaves
As the world continues to get warmer, major players in the travel industry are stepping up their emergency preparedness to handle potential forest fires and heatwaves. Last month was the hottest June ever recorded globally, marking the 13th consecutive month of global heat records.
The EU’s climate service, Copernicus, confirmed these figures. This forecast for another hot summer has prompted insurance company Gjensidige, which also owns Gouda Travel Insurance, to call for increased emergency readiness. Vibeke Topp Rasmussen, head of the emergency center at Gjensidige and Gouda, said they have increased their crisis team to handle the large volumes that a forest fire can cause.
The crisis team communicates with affected customers who need assistance and can also be dispatched to crisis situations at short notice. Due to the high temperatures, Gjensidige is also focusing on diagnoses that can occur in extreme heat, such as heat stroke, sunstroke, or dehydration.
Last year, several Southern European holiday destinations were ravaged by large forest fires, leading to the evacuation of both locals and tourists. SOS International, which provides assistance to insurance companies, has noticed a rise in extreme situations over recent years, undoubtedly linked to the consequences of climate change.
Travel company Spies has created a special task force this year, composed of employees from the company’s HR and IT departments, to respond quickly in case of a crisis. They are also sending more text messages to their customers with advice in case of extremely high temperatures.
Despite last year’s forest fires, Spies has not seen a decrease in bookings. In fact, the same number of people have booked holidays to Rhodes as last year. The travel company Sunweb, which received criticism from customers last year for its handling of the forest fires in Rhodes, has also seen a 15% increase in bookings to Rhodes this year.
Copenhagen Airport is also expecting a record-breaking busy summer. The primary reason for the repeated global heat records is that humans are emitting greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, according to Adrian Lema, head of the national center for climate research at the DMI. The El NiƱo weather phenomenon has also played a role in pushing temperatures even higher.