18 May 2023
Everyone knows Venice has fought to survive against rising sea levels, but people are increasingly concerned that the struggles faced by the floating city will soon be faced by the Maldives, Florida Keys, New York and even London – with rising sea levels, putting top holiday destinations at risk.
A new national poll by travel insurer InsureandGo reveals that 62% of UK holiday makers think one or more popular holiday destinations will be under water by 2050 – as a direct result of the climate emergency and its impact on rising water levels.
Of those that acknowledged the risks of rising sea levels, Venice was viewed by most people to be underwater by 2050 (48%) – closely followed by the Maldives (36%) , Florida Keys (28%) and the Seychelles (23%). Some also viewed premium holiday destinations such as Bahamas and Barbados as being at risk.
The prospect of rising sea levels was also seen to be a risk much closer to home in Europe – with Amsterdam and London seen to be at serious risk.
Holiday destinations that people are most likely to think will be under water by 2050:
(Base: nat rep sample of 2,103 adults)
- Venice 48%
- The Maldives 36%
- Florida Keys 28%
- Seychelles 23%
- Amsterdam 18%
- New Orleans 18%
- The Bahamas 17%
- Manilla 15%
- London 14%
- Bangkok 14%
- Barbados 13%
- New York 10%
By age group, young people were most likely to take seriously the impact of rising sea levels – peaking at 72% among the under 25s. People that viewed the climate emergency as the top issue to tackle were also most likely to name holiday destinations that would be under water by 2050 (71%) – but even those that didn’t rate the climate crisis as a priority issue also recognised the threat of rising seas levels on tourism (56%).
Chris Rolland, CEO at InsureandGo commented:
“Last summer we all experienced the impact of soaring summer temperatures, which resulted in 71% of UK holidaymakers considering parts of Europe that might be too hot to visit within the next decade. Another consequence of climate change is the impact on rising sea levels. We are all aware of the ongoing challenges Venice has been through to keep the city above water – and our study suggests many other top tourist hotspots could face similar challenges in the years ahead. The combined prospect of extreme weather and rising sea levels does threaten to change the world map for holiday makers.
“Though the picture may seem worrying now, there is hope that these predictions will not come to fruition if we can get a collective handle on climate change by sticking to net zero targets and reducing our overall consumption. Every effort in the right direction has the potential to make a big difference but there is still a lot to be done.”
These findings follow on from separate research by InsureandGo, which revealed that 71% of UK holiday makers think that Europe’s top holiday destinations will be too hot to travel to by the year 2027.
Percentage of people predicting which countries are most likely to be too hot to visit by 2027:
- Spain 65%
- Greece 59%
- Turkey 55%
- Cyprus 51%
- Portugal 49%
- Italy 42%
- Malta 35%
- France 25%
- Croatia 22%
- UK 19%
Predictions on cities that will be under water by 2050 by attitudes to climate change
