The travel world is slowly changing. Travel has become increasingly accessible to more people in recent years, thanks in part to budget flights. This does eventually lead to more mass tourism, which we heard a lot about especially in the summer of 2024. With protests in Spain, among others, but also measures in Venice, for example, the impact of mass tourism is becoming quite clear.

In addition, climate change is really starting to show. The summer of 2023, thanks in part to El Niño, was scorching hot in many places. I myself also nearly melted in Turkey and thought it would be a good idea to spend the summer of 2024 in the milder Netherlands. Here, on the contrary, the temperature is increasingly pleasant, and you notice it. More people are avoiding the hot summer season and instead travelling in spring and autumn. And travelling off-season happens to be a very sustainable choice.

1. Relief from mass tourism

So the first reason why travelling in low season is sustainable is because of mass tourism. Many people naturally depend on the summer holidays, when the kids are free. Those summer holidays fall in July and/or August in a lot of countries. So it’s necessarily busier then than any other month, wherever you go. But it used to stay amazingly quiet for the rest of the year. Many hotels and campsites closed as early as September and only reopened in May or June. Imagine then how much you have to earn in those 2-4 months, to make ends meet for a whole year. For many people, tourism was a temporary job, and the rest of the year they had another job.

In some countries, this is still the case. The Greek islands, for example, are complete ghost islands once everyone leaves in October. I experienced this myself in Zakynthos, where I was waiting for the tumbleweed to blow past. You know, one of those strawballs like in a Wild West movie when a village is completely deserted… But in summer, you can’t turn your arse there. Cozy, you are bobbing with 500 other boats in front of shipwreck beach, just try to take a nice photo for your Instagram!

Travelling in the low season or shoulder season (the months just before and after the high season) provides more peace and quiet. This is nice for you as a traveller, as you can at least walk around without having to work your way through crowds. But it is also nice for locals and nature. These are heavily overburdened by those masses of people who are in the same place all at once. Restaurants are full and staff run their legs out of their bodies. If they get to work at all, because they too have to work their way through those crowds in the peak season. If we spread the flow of tourists a bit more throughout the year, it would be manageable for them throughout the year.

3. Deeper and authentic experiences

Another advantage of travelling in low season is that it is much easier to interact with the locals, as they are thus much quieter. They are interested in you, because what drives you not to sway with the masses and travel in high season? But it is also easier for you to strike up a conversation because they are thus less busy. So this is the time to learn more about the local culture and get a more authentic experience.

If you stay at an agriturismo in Italy, for example, you are much more likely to be asked to join in the cooking in low season, while in high season you would have to book a paid cooking workshop, which is much less authentic. Now I absolutely do not mean to say that a cooking workshop in Italy is a bad idea. But whether you do a workshop with 20 people, which is rehearsed and adapted to tourists, or stand in the kitchen with ‘nonna’ making pasta, is something completely different. You can ask a lot more questions and probably make a lot more than the standard pasta from the cooking workshop.

And outside the tourist high season, of course, there is still plenty to do. Think of activities around Christmas (but not the mass locations like the Christmas markets in Germany), carnival or other local festivities. On many Greek islands, for instance, they just celebrate carnival in February, without tourists. These are activities that really show you how the locals live and celebrate certain important holidays. But also the general highlights of the seasons, such as the beautiful autumn colours, towns covered in a layer of snow or just the unveiling of the world in spring.

4. Decreased ecological footprint

Last but not least, travelling in the off-season can directly contribute to lower environmental impact. With fewer tourists, there is less traffic congestion (traffic jams), leading to lower CO2 emissions in popular destinations. Accommodations and attractions do not have to run at maximum capacity, resulting in lower energy and water consumption.

Natural areas get a chance to recover from busy periods, which is essential for preserving fragile ecosystems. As an off-season traveller, you have the unique opportunity to experience these areas in a way that has minimal impact on the environment.

Example of how that works with mass tourism and damage. Imagine 10 people sitting on a wooden bench. Then it’s pretty likely to sag, right? But if one person sits on that bench for 10 days, nothing happens. Then you might need 1,000 days before the bench starts to break through. So that’s how it works with tourism too. Both nature has a harder time with crowds of people, but bridges and stairs, for instance, also need a quicker refurbishment if crowds of people walk over them every day.

Downsides of low-season

So are there no downsides to the off-season? Sure there are. Ultimately, summer holidays are not the only reason our system is so seasonal. In many countries, for instance, you also have rainy season, where it can really pour down heavily on a daily basis. Not quite ideal. Not unmanageable either, but you have to have a bit more room to adjust your schedule and want to spend a few hours in a restaurant while waiting for the rain to pass.

Besides, in winter it is not very nice to lie on the beach on a beautiful Greek island, which is the main reason for many people to travel to Greece. Also, on Zakynthos you do not bob around with 500 other boats for shipwreck beach, because there are no boats to rent, due to the stronger currents in winter. So it’s a different kind of holiday, though. This is also why many cities suffer from mass tourism all year round, because a city break is always possible. But a beach holiday in winter is just not an option in many locations any more than a skiing holiday in summer. Although that beach holiday in Southern Europe in November, for instance, is still perfectly doable!

But as I said, climate change is also changing our travel behaviour. The rainy season is shorter in many places, so people still see those fringes of the season as a travel option too. Europe is also seeing more extreme weather, such as heat waves in summer and floods in spring and autumn. This also makes people more likely to seek some sun in September or October, while seeking coolness in summer.

The line from southern Europe to North Africa is expected to lose about 5% summer tourism in the coming years, while Scandinavia, the UK and Canada will see a 5% growth. And now, in autumn 2024, we are already seeing a seasonal shift in tourism. Spain, Portugal and Greece, among others, are seeing a shift to the shoulder season.