Transport: When Travel Peaks, Emissions Rise
Transport is one of the main sources of air pollution in tourist regions, especially during summer. Every day, thousands of cars enter coastal, mountainous, and forested resort areas. Parking lots are full, traffic is dense, and even small towns face daily congestion. Idling engines, outdated exhaust systems, and a lack of eco-regulations create persistent pollution zones. Resorts are often poorly equipped for such traffic loads: narrow streets, limited bypass roads, and underdeveloped public transit.
Tour buses and excursions add to the burden, and in coastal towns, cruise ships are a special case. While docked, they continue burning fuel, releasing ultrafine soot, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. In July 2023, environmental services in Barcelona recorded air pollution levels 2.5 times higher near the port than usual. Mountain resorts face their own challenges: climbing requires more fuel, and emissions get trapped in valleys. Even golf carts and water taxis contribute to the overall load. Tourism moves — and leaves behind a trail of invisible but harmful pollutants.
Hotels and Entertainment Infrastructure
Hospitality infrastructure is essential to any resort, but its environmental footprint is often underestimated. Hotels, guesthouses, villas, and rental homes consume large amounts of energy for air conditioning, water heating, lighting, and cooking. In smaller or developing resorts, diesel generators are commonly used and often lack emission controls. Old equipment, low energy efficiency, and round-the-clock operation make even small properties significant polluters.
Entertainment venues play their part too. Casinos, entertainment resorts, nightclubs, bars, karaoke halls, and open-air stages use as much energy as large buildings. Many allow indoor smoking, run fragrance systems, and operate extensive ventilation. This includes casinos with 24-hour operations, frequent ventilation cycles, and heavy use of lighting and electronics. Water parks, pools, and spas require chemical water treatment — which means filtration, pumping systems, chlorine usage, and constant electricity consumption. The situation worsens in hot weather, when tens of thousands of air conditioners are switched on simultaneously. Altogether, this creates a "muted noise" of pollution — invisible but reflected in allergies, fatigue, and poor sleep.
Seasonal Overload: When Resorts Struggle to Breathe
Most resort towns and villages were built to serve a stable, local population — not a sudden influx of thousands. Yet in summer, the number of people can increase three- to six-fold. This overwhelms transportation and energy systems and drastically lowers air quality. During peak season, streets overflow with people, air conditioners run nonstop, and engines never rest. Asphalt and rooftops store and radiate heat, creating urban hot zones.
Dense development and a lack of greenery block natural ventilation. Air stagnates, particulate matter accumulates, and under hot sun, chemical reactions occur that generate ground-level ozone. This is especially dangerous for children, the elderly, and anyone with respiratory issues. What’s worse — the pollution in such zones is rarely measured or monitored. Tourists feel like they’re surrounded by nature, but in reality, the air may be saturated with compounds no travel brochure will mention.
Across many resort areas, the same sources of pollution reappear year after year, including:
- tour buses and rental cars;
- mass use of air conditioners and split systems;
- outdated diesel generators without filters;
- heat accumulation from asphalt and rooftops;
- smoking zones and aerosol-heavy public events;
- trash burning and open-air cooking.
Each factor might seem minor on its own, but together they create a dense layer of pollution that lingers in the resort atmosphere.
Rest and clean air are no longer guaranteed companions. Mass tourism inevitably reshapes the urban environment, and air quality is among the first to suffer. Tackling the issue requires a systemic approach: green standards for hotels, cleaner transport, more vegetation, air quality monitoring, and awareness among travelers themselves. Clean air doesn’t happen by chance — it must be protected, even in places designed for relaxation. After all, nothing ruins a holiday like the invisible harm we breathe in every day.
