Historic Droughts Affecting Europe’s River Cruises
Cruise ships are making a big comeback this year after the industry was heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. But river cruising in Europe is now facing yet another obstacle, one of the worst droughts in decades.
Some major rivers in the continent have become too shallow to accommodate ships. This has affected the transport of goods and commodities and the river cruise sector.
River cruising is a multibillion-dollar industry. Numbers from 2018 showed a total of 1.6 million travelers cruising European rivers, NYT reports. That number had nearly doubled from 2013, according to Statista, and was expected to top 2 million in 2022.
But, portions of the Rhine and the Danube Rivers, both of which are popular for river cruising, are now unnavigable. With historically low water levels, even smaller vessels that are able to sail through have had to reduce capacities.
This is expected to be a long term issue for the industry. According to the European Drought Observatory, almost 65 percent of the E.U. is presently under drought warnings. Researchers say that droughts stand to occur more frequently in the future, as large storms bring heavy rainfall and flooding to other areas of the globe.
With heat waves expected to intensify in the future, it is expected that travelers will shift their summer itineraries to destinations further north or on the coasts from destinations like Rome or Tuscany. Some river cruise companies such as Uniworld, are also diversifying their offerings, by expanding into luxury train travel, with itineraries that include both cruise and rail components.
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