A strong El Niño event is expected to peak in late 2026, and it’s already causing disruptions to tourism. Regenerative tourism expert Susanna Kelly-Shankar notes that travelers can prepare for climate-related events by understanding the impact of El Niño. In Peru, heavy rains have triggered flooding and restricted access to Machu Picchu, while Indonesia is experiencing wildfires that are tearing across vulnerable orangutan habitats.
Higher temperatures, more droughts, and floods are characteristic of this climate pattern. Super El Niños are rare, but they have driven global catastrophes in the past, including a 15 percent loss of coral reefs and a population collapse of the Galápagos Island penguins. Despite the warnings from major news outlets and the World Meteorological Organization, the tourism industry remains relatively quiet about the issue.
El Niño’s Impact on Tourism
The start of El Niño is typically signaled by slowing Pacific Ocean trade winds, which alter weather patterns. However, this year’s El Niño is expected to be one of the most intense climate disruptions ever recorded, with sea surface temperatures surging 5.4°F (3°C) above baseline. In the air and on the ground, extreme heat, wildfires, and shifting jet streams can cause flight delays and destroy roads and rails.
The tourism industry’s silence on the issue may be due to the fact that travel is built on the promise of abundance, and big industry players may be hesitant to alter operations that impact their bottom line. Travelers may also be clinging to their vacation plans, despite the looming storm. However, it is essential for the industry to acknowledge the looming storm and take steps to prepare for climate-related events.
This requires a fundamental mindset shift, where travelers decenter themselves from the travel narrative and acknowledge the privilege gap between travelers and communities. By doing so, travelers can make informed choices about when to carry on, pivot, or even hit pause, and shift timelines to avoid extreme heat or minimize risk from tropical storm seasons.
At our destinations, droughts and floods can exacerbate food shortages and drain local water supplies, driving up costs while creating tension between travelers and host communities over resources. All this can make planning challenging and calls for putting safety and community needs first.
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One way to prioritize community needs is to choose community homestays over water-heavy resorts, trade all-you-can-eat buffets for independent restaurants that support local farmers, and prioritize small-scale, community-led tours over resource-heavy motorized excursions. Travelers can also maintain realistic expectations, accepting that record heat may close tourist sites, ski resorts may have low snowpack, landslides may disrupt transit networks, and once-thriving reefs may be damaged.
Preparing for Climate-Related Events
To manage risk, travelers should have a plan B for their travels, take travel and health insurance that covers a wide range of situations, make flexible bookings, and register their trip with their government. They should also heed local weather warnings and evacuation orders, which may require returning home. By being a responsible traveler during climate upheaval, travelers can recognize that travel can serve as a lifeline or liability, and make choices that put communities first.
As the Super El Niño builds, it will disrupt not only travels but also the communities that tourists love to visit. Susanna Kelly-Shankar notes that there’s no blueprint for traveling during a Super El Niño, and making informed choices requires adaptability. By doing so, travelers can make a positive impact on the communities they visit and help build resilience against extreme weather.
The Super El Niño is expected to have a significant impact on global resources, and travelers need to remember that tourism is resource-intensive. Travelers generate a lot of food waste, and hotel guests consume up to eight times more water than the average resident. Simple swaps, such as choosing community homestays over water-heavy resorts, can help prioritize community needs over personal comfort while cutting excessive food, water, and energy use.
Community-Led Tourism Initiatives
Travelers can support community-led tourism initiatives that prioritize local needs and environmental sustainability. Being a good guest starts with a simple search for ‘El Niño impacts in [destination]’ to uncover local priorities. If drought is expected, return to the basics: take shorter showers and turn off running water for an immediate effect. And when weather disruptions do happen, instead of succumbing to sensational fear-mongering, look for reliable on-the-ground sources like municipal notices, park services, or local tourism boards.