Vulnerabilities

The expected increase in summer temperatures could increase interest in summer recreation around natural and artificial water reservoirs, but prolonged high temperatures will cause substantial heating of water volumes with subsequent reduction in water quality, accompanied by the growth of blue-green algae. This is a high-risk factor that could even prevent the use of water bodies. Therefore, it can be expected that the recreation season will tend to shift to the spring or autumn months, which will have more acceptable temperatures (1).

Overall, climate change could increase the touristic appeal of the central and eastern European countries. Only minor effects are expected from climate change though, as cultural tourism, which is not dependent on climate, is more important. Increasing summer temperatures will result in a positive effect for northern regions like the Baltic. However, in many regions summer tourism is still in its infancy. Among the countries that will experience positive climatic effects by 2030, Estonia (partly because of its proximity to Finland), Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland are the most dependent on tourism (2).

References

The references below are cited in full in a separate map 'References'. Please click here if you are looking for the full references for the Czech Republic.

1. Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic (2009)
2. Iordache and Cebuc (2009)