Europe’s Tourist Guides Face Growing Heatwave Threat as Temperatures Soar
Tourist guides are increasingly facing severe heatwave challenges, highlighted by a tragic death in Rome and widespread difficulties in European sites. Associations are calling for updated protocols and operational changes, including extended opening hours and providing shade to protect both guides and visitors. The industry is urged to rethink tourism patterns in response to climate change.
Tourist guides across Europe are increasingly working on the frontline of extreme heat, conducting tours in temperatures that can exceed 40°C with limited access to shade or cooling.
The risks gained tragic attention last summer when Giovanna Maria Giammarino, a 56-year-old Italian guide, collapsed and died while leading a tour of Rome’s Colosseum during a period of intense heat.
Her death prompted Italian tour guide associations Federagit and AGTA to call for updated summer protocols for the cultural tourism sector, but the challenges facing guides and visitors extend far beyond Italy.
For many self-employed guides, cancelling or postponing tours is difficult, particularly when bookings are made months in advance through agencies, tour operators or cruise lines. French guide Gabriel Quentin-Gerbault recalled leading a tour in Pérouges, near Lyon, when temperatures climbed above 40°C in direct sunlight, noting that some guides have negotiated alternatives such as replacing walking tours with bus trips or visits to air-conditioned museums. Such adjustments can be particularly important for older tourists, many of whom are over 60 and more vulnerable to heat-related stress.
The European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations, which represents about 60,000 professional guides, is calling for practical measures to make tourism safer during extreme heat. Its head of training, Themis Halvantzi-Stringer, has pointed to Greece, where some museums and open-air sites extend operating hours into cooler morning and evening periods, while also advocating shaded areas, public water fountains, bottled water and cooling misters.
As climate change makes heatwaves more frequent and intense, tourism operators and travellers may also need to reconsider peak-season travel, with alternatives such as May and September offering potentially safer and more comfortable conditions.