Last week, COP28 kicked off at Expo City Dubai. Officially known as the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the 28th edition of the event, which will run until Dec. 12, is bringing together world leaders aimed at addressing climate change.
This year, record temps reached new heights, and more extreme weather events like intensifying heat waves, floods, and droughts happened around the globe.
And the effects of climate change on events, in particular, were made tragically apparent recently when a Taylor Swift fan died in the midst of a heat wave in Brazil. The singer performed a three-day stretch of concerts in Rio de Janeiro in November. On Nov. 18, thermometers in the city reached a high of 110.8 F, the highest temperature recorded since at least 2014 when tracking began.
“We recognize we could have taken some alternative actions, additional to everything we already did,” Serafim Abreu, CEO of Time For Fun, which organized the event, said in a tweet. “We know that, with the climate change we are going through, these episodes will be more frequent—the whole sector needs to rethink its situation in face of this new reality.”
So what does this mean for the global meeting and event space? Will some destinations become too hot to handle groups? Will others step up and lead the charge for better environmental sustainability?
For example, earlier this year, Phoenix endured 31 days of temperatures soaring beyond 110 F. Despite this increase in heat, the Arizona-based event experts BizBash spoke with haven't experienced a dramatic shift in group requests due to the weather. “Here in Arizona, we are very used to heat waves and always have a backup plan,” said Missy Holmes, director of catering and conference services at Mountain Shadows Resort in Paradise Valley.
She continued, “Due to Arizona’s seasonality, we always see a decline in our summer months due to climate. Luckily, we have some beautiful indoor spaces with AC and natural light that still allow us to host meetings successfully. We don’t foresee this trend changing anytime soon as it has always been a part of being an Arizona resort.”
Abigail Betts, director of sales at Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, added that her team doesn’t book an outdoor space without a guaranteed indoor space as a backup.
The combination of excessive heat and tons of tourists is projected to negatively affect some destinations, though. "Anyone that’s been in Europe in the middle of the summer over the past several years—between the heat waves and unbelievable crowding—has definitely come to appreciate a softer period in which to plan travel and events," said Gabriella Ribeiro, founder of TRUmarketing, a boutique sales and marketing firm that represents tourist boards, destination management companies, and hotel partners.
A recent report by the European Travel Commission found that the number of European tourists interested in going to Mediterranean countries has dropped 10%, with many travelers shifting their trip dates, instead opting for the shoulder season of October and November. While cost is a factor, the research found that nearly 8% of travelers specifically mentioned "extreme weather events" as their primary concern about traveling in Europe from June to November.
Ribeiro also noted that there's now more interest in pre- and postseason travel in certain locales.
“We are definitely seeing it in Croatia where the yachting product is so prominent. Many chartered yacht options are now being extended due to the longer duration of mild weather. Typically that season was primarily late May to mid-September, and we are now seeing options for charters from late April through the end of October because of recent weather patterns and track records for sailing conditions in these shoulder seasons,” Ribeiro said.
Plus, airfare tends to be more affordable outside peak seasons, “which is another highly attractive point when creating an international event,” she added.
Carla Melo, senior sales manager at Sonesta Resorts St. Maarten, noted that hurricane season, especially September, is always the biggest challenge to fill. But she added that corporate planners, who typically prefer to book stays at the beginning of the year, have become more open to shoulder season dates including October, November, and May. “Our biggest opportunity to grow group bookings is in September and October. It is always more challenging to attract group business during those months,” she said.
With so much unknown in terms of climate change, it’s more important than ever for meeting and event planners to seek adaptability when it comes to contracts. “Flexible policies will always be highly desirable on any planner’s list—policies that allow for ease of revision, should weather events occur, with regard to rebooking or redesigning what was intended to occur,” Ribeiro said.
“Rapid revisions on site are critical as well. For instance, events that are planned for outdoor forums should always be accompanied by an alternative that can easily and quickly be refitted.”
